Psychological Weil‐Being Among Unemployed and Employed People After a Company Closedown: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

In a three‐year longitudinal study, we examined the effects of unemployment and the fear of becoming unemployed on the psychological well‐being of 1153 employees at a shipyard that was closed down, and a control group of 441 employees from another, operative shipyard. On all three questionnaires, unemployed people were significantly lower in psychological well‐being than employed people. Change to or from employment was significantly associated with changes in psychological well‐being, whereas remaining employed or unemployed did not lead to any systematic changes in psychological well‐being. Among employed people, the fear of unemployment was strongly associated with reduced psychological well‐being. Thus, the health‐related consequences of unemployment affect not only the unemployed but also employed people who have little job security. Consequently, we stress the need to create new workplaces and to implement reforms that can reduce job insecurity in the labor market.