Long-term Unemployed Men Research Articles

Investigating the Capability Approach: How Long-Term Unemployed People in Finland Perceive Their Access to Commodities, Conversion Factors and Capabilities

Abstract Capability Approach (CA) extends our understanding of wellbeing by underlining the importance of freedoms. There is a need to operationalize CA components for empirical measurement in different settings and population groups. This study investigated the conversion process from perceived resources to perceived capabilities by investigating the role of perceived conversion factors (personal and contextual) among a particular population group of Finnish long-term unemployed persons (N = 511, year 2016), aged 20–64 years, not receiving activation services, recruited through a service system and registers (random sampling). We used the label “perceived” to highlight that our approach was subjective, meaning that we measured respondents’ own perceptions of their commodities, conversion factors and capabilities. Data were collected in the PROMEQ project using a structured, self-employed questionnaire. Perceived capabilities were measured on a 7 + 1 item scale of self-reported capabilities. The main statistical methods applied were crosstabs with chi² tests, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Long-term unemployed perceived poorer capabilities compared to the general Finnish population. Long-term unemployed men perceived poorer capabilities compared to long-term unemployed women. CFA indicated the data fit with the CA. The SEM model supported the theoretical assumptions of CA: perceived commodities associated with perceived capabilities strongly but indirectly through perceived social and environmental conversion factors. Group analysis (SEM) demonstrated, that between genders the CA-models were slightly differentiated. The results indicate the need for more effective capability promotion, and for targeted practices acknowledging variety of circumstances of the long-term unemployed. CA could offer a comprehensive tool for this task.

‘You’d Die if You Didn’t Have Fun’: Interpreting the Experiences of Long-Term Unemployed Men as Bakhtinian Death–Rebirth

Death is a well-established metaphor for how individuals experience and cope with change: from organisational restructuring to job loss. However, the critical potential of death metaphors, particularly relating to job loss and unemployment, has not been fully realised. Drawing on dialogues between long-term unemployed men and their case workers at a Work Club in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, this article addresses a lack of theorisation of situated relational jobseeker resistance. Interpreting these experiences through Bakhtin’s concept of death–rebirth, metaphorical death can be understood as a feeling induced by stigmatising unemployment discourse. Rebirth represents the temporary resistance of this death through carnivalesque laughter, parody and grotesque humour. It is concluded that the men resist the stigma of blame for their own unemployment by using humorous carnivalesque reversals between death and rebirth as a form of relational jobseeker resistance.

Social inequalities in health: duration of unemployment unevenly effects on the health of men and women.

Employment status is an important determinant of health inequalities. The aim of this article is to analyze the association between duration of unemployment and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors, self-perception of health and presence of depression and anxiety, assessing differences in the effects of unemployment by sex and age. The sample was composed of 12 123 people (52.4% men), 18 to 74 years old (mean age= 43.5 years, SD = 10.4). Logistic regression analyses were used to study the influence of duration of unemployment on health ('0 days', '≤11 months' and '≥12 months'). Sex, age, level of education, employment status and time spent unemployed, as well as tobacco and alcohol use and physical activity, were considered. Morbidity variables were hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, obesity, depression and anxiety, and a subjective health assessment. The results showed both unemployed men and women had worse outcome in health compared with their active counterparts. The risk of hypertension was presented in long-term unemployed men, which had 1.3 times more likely to suffer from hypertension. The risk of obesity was presented only in unemployed women, which had 1.5 times more risk of obesity, doubling the risk (OR= 2.2) among women under age 40. The unemployment had a protective effect against anxiety among younger women (OR = 0.53). It has been observed a different influence of unemployment time on men and women's health. The employment status should be considered in public health policy agendas with the purpose of reducing inequalities in health.

Health Behavior and Self-Assessed Health Among Some Long-Term Unemployed Living in Turku, Finland

Background:A number of previous studies have concluded that long-term unemployment is destructive to health.Objective:This study examined health behavior and self-assessed health of some long-term unemployed persons living in the city of Turku, in Southwestern Finland.Methodology:The qualitative data were collected from February to March 2016 from 40 long-term unemployed men and women, aged between 31 to 63 years.Results:Of the participants 85% (n=34) reported that their long-term unemployment situation had had a negative impact on their health. There were 95% (n=36) who needed medical care because of their health condition. There were 59% (n=24) who were not satisfied with the healthcare and social services compared to 49% (n=16) who were satisfied with the services.Conclusion:There were more single men than single women among the participants. Half of the participants had a profession of which the women constituted the majority. Several participants were suffering from a chronic disease. The participants were not satisfied of their lives and attributed their health behavior and poor health conditions to their long-term unemployment situation. They were not satisfied also with the healthcare and social services provided to them.

Attitudes towards Work among Prison Inmates and the Long-Term Unemployed

The article includes an analysis of differences in attitudes towards work in conditions of imprisonment and among employed and long-term unemployed men not detained in prison.The results of the analysis showed a moderate interaction effect of the factors: imprisonment and unemployment (F (1.407) = 6.16, p <0.05, Eta 2 = 0.36). It turned out that the environment of prison isolation and unemployment are mutually related, and the least favorable attitudes towards were shown by the men serving imprisonment sentence, having at the same time no employment opportunities.

A cost-benefit analysis of the random assignment UK Employment Retention and Advancement Demonstration

This article presents a cost-benefit analysis of Britain’s Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) demonstration, which was evaluated through the first large-scale randomized control trial in the UK. ERA used a combination of job coaching and financial incentives in attempting to help long-term unemployed men and low-income lone parents sustain employment and progress in work once they were employed. Using both administrative and survey data, ERA’s effects on benefits and costs were estimated through impact analyses, which exploited the experimental design. The findings indicated that ERA was cost beneficial for long-term unemployed adult men, but not for lone parents. The key findings appear robust to sensitivity tests. Uncertainty, as implied by the SEs of the estimated impacts, was addressed through a Monte Carlo analysis, an approach seldom previously used in cost-benefit analyses of social programs.

Health risk factors and self-rated health among job-seekers.

BackgroundTo determine a) proportions of behavior related health risk factors among job-seekers and b) to what extend these are related to self-rated health.MethodsOver 12 months, job-seekers were recruited at three job-agencies in northeastern Germany. Among all individuals eligible for study inclusion, 7,906 (79.8%) provided information on smoking, risky drinking, overweight/obesity (body mass index), fruit and vegetable intake, physical inactivity, illicit drug use, and self-rated health. Proportions and 95% confidence intervals stratified by gender, age and duration of unemployment were calculated. Multivariate logistic regression analyses predicting self-rated health were conducted.ResultsThe proportions of each health-risk factor were high, and 52.4% of the sample (53.4% male, 33.5 years mean age) had 3 or more health risk factors. Mostly, the proportions were particularly high among men and long-term unemployed individuals; e.g. 84.8% of the 18-24 year old long-term unemployed men were current smokers. Proportions of substance use related health risk factors were highest among the 18-24 year olds (e.g. risky drinking 28.7%), and proportions of health risk factors related to nutrition and physical inactivity were highest among the 40-64 year olds (e.g. overweight/obesity 65.4%). Depending on gender, all health risk factors and having 3 or more health risk factors were associated with lower self-rated health; odd ratios ranged between 1.2 for smoking (95% CI: 1.0-1.3) and 1.7 for overweight and physical inactivity (95% CI: 1.5-1.9).ConclusionsPrevention efforts to reduce health risk factors and to increase health among job-seekers are needed, and job agencies appear a feasible setting for their implementation.

Rewarding Responsibility? Long-Term Unemployed Men and the Welfare-to-Work Agenda

In this paper we explore the responses of a group of long-term unemployed men to chronic labour market insecurity and ‘active’ labour market policies promoting individual responsibility for employability. We draw from an evaluation of a recent pilot scheme: the UK Employment Retention and Advancement Demonstration. We identify a range of responses, shaped through experiences which reflect gender, class, and age divisions. Despite significant labour market disadvantage, some of the men responded by proactively engaging with the employability agenda. Drawing on qualitative longitudinal data, we follow the trajectories of the men in work, examining how they fared in insecure, precarious labour markets. We conclude by looking at the strengths and limitations of the current policy agenda, suggesting that more creative ways need to be found to engage some of the most disadvantaged in the reskilling agenda and that employers are currently a ‘weak link’ in the package of support provided.

Identifying effect heterogeneity to improve the efficiency of job creation schemes in Germany

Previous empirical studies of job creation schemes (JCS) in Germany have shown that the average effects for the participating individuals are negative. However, we find that this is not true for all strata of the population. Identifying individual characteristics that are responsible for the effect heterogeneity and using this information for a better allocation of individuals therefore bears some scope for improving programme efficiency. We present several stratification strategies and discuss the occurring effect heterogeneity. Our findings show that JCS do neither harm nor improve the labour market chances for most of the groups. Exceptions are long-term unemployed men in West and long-term unemployed women in East and West Germany who benefit from participation in terms of higher employment rates.

Identifying Effect Heterogeneity to Improve the Effiency of Job Creation Schemes in Germany?

Previous empirical studies of job creation schemes in Germany have shown that the average effects for the participating individuals are negative. However, we find that this is not true for all strata of the population. Identifying individual characteristics that are responsible for the effect heterogeneity and using this information for a better allocation of individuals therefore bears some scope for improving programme efficiency. We present several stratification strategies and discuss the occurring effect heterogeneity. Our findings show that job creation schemes do neither harm nor improve the labour market chances for most of the groups. Exceptions are long-term unemployed men in West and long-term unemployed women in East and West Germany who benefit from participation in terms of higher employment rates.

Working in the hidden economy: The experience of unemployed men in the UK

Hidden economy working amongst unemployed people can be defined in terms of working for financial gain without declaration for tax purposes while also claiming social welfare benefits. The extent, nature, and experience of hidden economy working among the unemployed in Britain is, as yet, little understood. As part of an in-depth interview study of 44 long-term unemployed men, 17 of the men talked about their experiences of working in the hidden economy. This paper reports on the extent, nature and experience of hidden economy working amongst these long-term unemployed men, and the meaning of such work to them, their families and local community. The complex matrix of feelings (including guilt, anxiety and pleasure), combined with the financial gains, fear of losing welfare benefit and the ability to practise work-related skills contributed to creating a lifeworld for these men which had implications for their experience of family and community life.

Psychological correlates of salivary cortisol secretion among unemployed men and women.

The aim of the present study was to examine the association between psychological factors and salivary cortisol secretion (baseline level, reactivity to laboratory stressors) in a sample of 59 long-term unemployed men and women (mean age 42+/-10 years). Subjects were divided into four groups according to their basal levels of salivary cortisol as well as their reactivity to experimental stress (stress level minus baseline): (1) low base/ low reactivity; (2) high base/low reactivity; (3) low base/high reactivity; and (4) high base/ high reactivity. The low base/low reactivity group was characterized by significantly higher somatic anxiety, muscular tension, irritability, and depression (Beck's Depression Inventory) and lower perceived control (mastery) than the other groups. The low base/high reactivity group was also characterized by depression and low perceived control. The high base/low reactivity group was higher in terms of monotony avoidance, Type-A behavior (JAS) and mastery, but lower in depression. The results indicate that (1) individuals with personality traits reflecting emotional distress are more vulnerable to exhaustion of the HPA-axis following long-term unemployment and (2) monotony avoidance and Type-A behavior, at least temporarily, seem to exert a beneficial influence on mental well-being among long-term unemployed individuals.

Health effects of unemployment—I. Long-term unemployed men in a rural and an urban setting

Between 1983 and 1987 in an urban and a rural Dutch area employed and long-term unemployed men, between 30 and 50 years old, have been interviewed. The main topics of the study were the independent health effects of unemployment, the factors related to these health effects and socio-culural differences. Long-term unemployment is considered to be a social phenomenon that restructures individual's social positions into multiple deprived positions. The characteristics of this restructuring are a relative lack of socio-structural resources, low social participation and emotional problems. Independent effects on the health status (perceived somatic and depressive complaints and self reported chronic disease) have been found to exist among both the rural and the urban unemployed. There is no clear effect of unemployment on health care use, but regional differences in health care use among rural and urban unemployed have been found. Between the urban and rural unemployed there are more similarities than differences in the factors and models explaining ill-health. The most important factors are: loneliness, disadvantageous consequences of unemployment, money worries and ill-health prior to jobloss (health selection at the labour market). One important difference is that among the urban unemployed the perceived size of the network is an explanatory factor, but among the rural unemployed perceived stigmatization is more important. In general, ill-health can be better explained for the rural unemployed than for the urban unemployed.

Long-term unemployment and mortality in Sweden, 1980–1986

The mortality of a cohort of long-term unemployed men and women in Sweden ( N = 28,846) was followed up during the period 1980–1986. Compared to a population of employed, the total mortality rate ratios (with 95% confidence limit) were 1.37 (1.22–1.53); for men 1.61 (1.42–1.84) and for women 1.14 (0.91–1.42). The young/middle-aged men had about four times higher relative mortality than all men. Suicide and alcohol-related deaths could not explain the excess mortality among these men. It is discussed whether the high risks for young/middle-aged men could be an effect of mental disturbances due to unemployment followed by high psycho-social stress. The effect of employment status on social and psychological identity may be greater for men than for women, for whom there may be more compensatory factors.