Impact Of Involuntary Job Loss Research Articles

Job loss and the mental health of spouses and adolescent children

Panel data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey are used to examine the impact of involuntary job loss on the mental health of spouses and adolescent children. Estimates from fixed effects models show that the mental health of women (but not men) declines following a spouse’s job loss, but only if that job loss results in a sustained period of non-employment or if the couple experienced prior financial hardship or relationship strain. A negative effect of parental job loss on the mental health of adolescent children is also found but is restricted to girls.JEL Classification: I31, J10, J65

A Family Affair: Job Loss and the Mental Health of Spouses and Adolescents

Examines the impact of involuntary job loss on the mental health of family members. Abstract This study examines the impact of involuntary job loss on the mental health of family members. Estimates from fixed-effects panel data models, using panel data for Australia, provide little evidence of any negative spillover effect on the mental health of husbands as a result of their wives' job loss. The mental well-being of wives, however, declines following their husbands' job loss, but only if that job loss results in a sustained period of non-employment or if the couple experienced financial hardship or relationship strain prior to the husband's job loss. A negative effect of parental job loss on the mental health of co-resident adolescent children is also found, but appears to be restricted to girls.

A Family Affair: Job Loss and the Mental Health of Spouses and Adolescents

This study examines the impact of involuntary job loss on the mental health of family members. Estimates from fixed-effects panel data models, using panel data for Australia, provide little evidence of any negative spillover effect on the mental health of husbands as a result of their wives' job loss. The mental well-being of wives, however, declines following their husbands' job loss, but only if that job loss results in a sustained period of non-employment or if the couple experienced financial hardship or relationship strain prior to the husband's job loss. A negative effect of parental job loss on the mental health of co-resident adolescent children is also found, but appears to be restricted to girls.

Does the effect of job loss on psychological distress differ by educational level?

We examine the impact of involuntary job loss on psychological distress and investigate whether the impact differs by educational level using a sample of men drawn from the British Household Panel Study. We expect higher-educated men to suffer less from job loss because they have more resources and better re-employment chances. Alternatively, it could be that, in the long run, lower-educated men adapt better to continued unemployment or downward mobility. Fixed effects regression analyses show that job loss increases distress, but over time the effect wears off and is limited to non-employed men. We find that higher-educated men experience less distress following job loss. These educational differences in the impact of job loss become smaller over time and are mainly driven by re-employment chances.

The Costs of Involuntary Job Loss: Impact on Workers' Employment and Earnings

This paper examines the impact of involuntary job loss on the employment and earnings of affected workers, using data from the Survey of Families, Incomes and Employment (SoFIE) for the 2002–09 period. It focusses on employees who had been working in their job for at least one year before the job loss. The impact of displacement is estimated by using a propensity score matching approach to select similar non-displaced workers and compare their employment and earnings with those of displaced workers. We find that the employment rate of displaced workers was on average 27 percentage points lower 0–1 years after displacement, 14 percentage points lower 1–2 years after, and 8 percentage points lower 2–3 years after, than that of the matched comparison group. The average wage of re-employed displaced workers was 12 percent lower 0–1 years after displacement, 11 percent lower 1–2 years after and 7 percent lower 2–3 years after. Other impacts include increases in unemployment and self-employment, reductions in average weekly hours, and reductions in weekly and annual earnings.

Differential Impact of Involuntary Job Loss on Physical Disability Among Older Workers

Older workers' share of involuntary job losses in the United States has grown fairly consistently in recent decades, prompting greater interest in the health consequences of involuntary unemployment among individuals nearing retirement. In this study, the authors applied the multifactorial model of geriatric health to investigate whether late-career involuntary job loss was associated with subsequent physical disability and whether the effect of involuntary job loss on physical disability varied by predisposition. Using data from the first four waves (1992 to 1998) of the Health and Retirement Survey, the authors measured predisposition with individual risk factors for functional disability and indices of aggregate risk. The results of gender-specific models fit with generalized estimating equations revealed that unmarried women and those with low predisplacement incomes had heightened risk for subsequent functional disability. No differential effects of job loss were found for men.

The effect of involuntary job loss on smoking intensity and relapse

To assess the impact of involuntary job loss due to plant closure or layoff on relapse to smoking and smoking intensity among older workers. DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS, SAMPLE: Data come from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative survey of older Americans aged 51-61 in 1991 followed every 2 years beginning in 1992. The 3052 participants who were working at the initial wave and had any history of smoking comprise the main sample. Primary outcomes are smoking relapse at wave 2 (1994) among baseline former smokers, and smoking quantity at wave 2 among baseline current smokers. As reported at the wave 2 follow-up, 6.8% of the sample experienced an involuntary job loss between waves 1 and 2. Older workers have over two times greater odds of relapse subsequent to involuntary job loss than those who did not. Further, those who were current smokers prior to displacement that did not obtain new employment were found to be smoking more cigarettes, on average, post-job loss. The stress of job loss, along with other significant changes associated with leaving one's job, which would tend to increase cigarette consumption, must outweigh the financial hardship which would tend to reduce consumption. This highlights job loss as an important health risk factor for older smokers.

The impact of involuntary job loss on those disabled by society: a pilot study to encourage effective participation

Over half of the people who become disabled whilst employed are thought to be pressured into leaving their job. This study investigates the experience of involuntary retirement/redundancy due to disability. Three researchers who had all experienced such involuntary job loss were trained to conduct the research. Semi‐structured interviews were designed and conducted by disabled researchers. The training of the researchers enabled them to successfully conduct a research project. The results of the project show the impact of involuntary job loss due to disability to be considerable. This study would suggest that government reforms to create new opportunities for disabled people of a working age are well overdue. Although there were some problems experienced with the amount of training required and the lack of objectivity, training disabled researchers to conduct research proved to be a valuable experience for both the researchers and the facilitators.

The impact of involuntary job loss on subsequent alcohol consumption by older workers: findings from the health and retirement survey.

To estimate the effect of involuntary job loss on subsequent alcohol consumption by older workers in the United States. Using longitudinal data from the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Health and Retirement Survey, the authors estimated multivariate models to assess the impact of involuntary job loss on subsequent alcohol use. Two outcomes were investigated: reported daily alcohol consumption and onset of drinking. The analysis sample included 207 workers who experienced involuntary job loss between survey dates and a comparison group of 2,866 continuously employed workers. After baseline alcohol consumption and a variety of socioeconomic and illness-related covariates were controlled, involuntary job loss was not associated (p>.05) with number of daily drinks consumed at follow-up. However, among those who did not consume alcohol at baseline, individuals who suffered involuntary job loss were twice as likely as continuously employed individuals to start drinking by follow-up (OR = 2.01; CI = 1.06-3.80). The majority of those who began drinking at follow-up reported drinking less than 1 drink per day. The findings provide evidence of a significant relationship between job loss and subsequent alcohol use among baseline nondrinkers. However, the magnitude of the changes in drinking was quite modest.

Health Effects of Involuntary Job Loss Among Older Workers: Findings From the Health and Retirement Survey

To estimate the health consequences of involuntary job loss among older workers in the United States. Using longitudinal data from the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Health and Retirement Survey, multivariate regression models were estimated to assess the impact of involuntary job loss on both physical functioning and mental health. Our analysis sample included 209 workers who experienced involuntary job loss between survey dates and a comparison group of 2,907 continuously employed workers. The effects of late-life involuntary job loss on both follow-up physical functioning and mental health were negative and statistically significant (p < .05), even after baseline health status and sociodemographic factors were controlled for. Among displaced workers, reemployment was positively associated with both follow-up physical functioning and mental health, whereas the duration of joblessness was not significantly associated with either outcome. The findings provide evidence of a causal relationship between job loss and morbidity among older workers. This relationship is reflected in both poorer physical functioning and mental health for workers who experience involuntary job loss. In addition to the economic consequences of worker displacement, there may be important health consequences of job loss, especially among older workers.

Psychosocial Impact of Job Loss on Individuals and Families

A large number of studies have been undertaken to evaluate the psy chosocial impact of involuntary job loss on unemployed workers and their families,1 but until recently the findings have been mixed and in conclusive. The primary reason is that it has been difficult to firmly es tablish that job loss causes psycho social difficulties. The rival hypoth esis, that persons with mental health problems are more likely than others to lose their jobs, is difficult to rule out unless representative samples of both employed and unemployed persons can be followed over time. In addition, most studies on the impact of unemployment have fo cused on individuals rather than on families. It is only recently that we have begun to gather evidence that the impact of unemployment can ra diate throughout the personal-social network of the unemployed individ

Primary Group Assistance During Unemployment

In recent years, numerous studies have documented the supportive role of primary groups-friends, neighbors, and kinduring periods of crisis within the life cycle. Primary groups have been shown to help ease the recovery from heart attacks (Croog, Lipson, and Levine 1972), to cushion the impact of involuntary job loss (Gore 1973, 1978), to lower the risk of complications following childbirth (Nuckolls, Cassel, and Kaplan 1972), and to ameliorate problems generic to child rearing, household finances, and employment (Lebowitz, Fried, and Madaris 1973). A related body of literature has described the resources provided by primary groups to victims of natural disasters (Quarantelli 1960; Drabek and Boggs 1968; Drabek, Key, Erickson, and Crowe 1975). Given the diversity of measurement approaches and subject matter, the findings of these studies are remarkably consistent: individuals with a high degree of primary group support are more likely to ease their way through stressful life events than are individuals with little or no The evidence supports the proposition that primary groups act as buffers or mediators of external stress by affirming the individual's sense of self-esteem and belongingness within a stable community. As with most developing research areas, the study of primary group support suffers from important gaps that impede further empirical and theoretical progress. One of the most important shortcomings is the overall lack of consensus over the nature of primary group Some investigators have limited the focus of concern to various forms of intangible emotional support, or moral support. Others have also included concrete forms of assistance, such as financial aid and services within the definition of social support.' In many studies, information about the origin, reliability, and validity of items that are taken as measures of support lacks sufficient detail to be useful in further replicative research. A related problem is the failure to give proper consideration to the differential forms of primary groups. Little attention is given to which types of primary groups provide which specific forms of assistance during times of crisis. Clearly, much can be gained by a more careful specification of the types of assistance provided by primary groups, the forms of primary groups that are involved, and the conditions under which assistance is rendered. These concerns provide the starting point of the present investigation.

UNEMPLOYMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN SERVICE POLICY*

ABSTRACTThe psychiatric impact of involuntary job loss is evaluated in this paper in light of the attitude among some policy makers that contemporary unemployment is associated with minimal personal costs. Research bearing directly and indirectly on the mental health consequences of job loss is reviewed. Preliminary findings from an ongoing study of family and personal impacts of job loss in which this writer is engaged are also presented. The collective evidence of at least selective psychiatric effects of unemployment is then examined for its implications for human service policy especially in relation to the primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of mental illness.