Abstract
Unemployment narrows the realization of individual potential and has a negative effect on the experiences and status of an individual, thereby weakening the quality of life. We explored meaningfulness, health and work ability as predictors of quality of life among unemployed adults. A total of 30,598 persons participated in nationwide Finnish Regional Health and Well-Being Study (N = 76,000) between January 2014 and January 2015. This study used data from 1158 unemployed or laid-off persons aged 20–65. Developed path model based on the salutogenic approach fitted well to the data. Perceived meaningfulness had the most substantial effect on the quality of life. Good health associated with good work ability and they both had a significant impact on the quality of life. Meaningfulness and quality of life were better among women compared to men. The salutogenic approach is suitable for exploring the quality of life in the context of unemployment. Unemployed persons should be encouraged to engage in activities, voluntary work, for instance, that would increase their resources, enhance their quality of life, and contribute to re-employment.
Highlights
Quality of life can be considered as an indicator of holistic well-being and satisfaction in life
Even though our data were crosssectional, we propose that good health is required for good work ability, and that both factors have a positive effect on quality of life, i.e., they are important resources of it
This study shows the applicability of salutogenic approach in the context of overall wellbeing and quality of life among unemployed persons
Summary
Quality of life can be considered as an indicator of holistic well-being and satisfaction in life. Quality of life reflects a person’s satisfaction with achievements in life (Poduzov and Yazykova 2019) and can be seen as a process that aims to realize their potential (Reinders and Schalock 2014) This potential is narrowed by unemployment which affects deeply the experiences. The core concept of the salutogenic model is a sense of coherence that can be explained as a continuing trust that both internal and external life events are predictable and meaningful. Meaningfulness stands for motivation that makes facing the adversity of life worth investing and engaging (Sollerhed et al 2005) It helps in promoting healthy lifestyle because of its role as a mediator between positive effects of self-esteem and self-efficacy and health behaviours (Wiesmann and Hannich 2011). Motivation is crucial in commitment to job seeking and skills development
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