The Social Costs of Unemployment: Implications for Social Support

Abstract

Social support is typically viewed as a stable factor that is potentially an important moderator of the effects of stressful life events. This study examines the effect of one economic stressor, unemployment, on social support, the mediation of this effect, and then the stress-buffering hypothesis. Data were taken from a longitudinal panel study of 82 blueand white-collar men who recently experienced unemployment. Social support was measured in three ways: 1) marital and family support; 2) help (from outside the family) with problems; and 3) number and frequency of contacts with social network members. Following unemployment, a significant decline in two offour indicators of marital support was found for all workers. When the number of weeks of unemployment was considered, a decrease in the quality of the marital relation and an increase in help with problems was found for white-collar workers. A decrease in frequency of contact with network members for blue-collar workers was also observed. Mediation analyses indicated that unemployment has a negative effect on marital and family support in part through its effect on the husband's psychological wvell-being. Two different methods for estimating the stress-buffering effects of supports most susceptible to change during job loss indicate that buffering does occur. The conceptual implications of the nonindependence between stressful events and social supports for the stress buffering hypothesis are examined.