Experience Of Unemployment Research Articles

Did the COVID-19 pandemic fuel public support for social protection?

Abstract Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, both viral infection and the corresponding economic turmoil have wreaked havoc across the globe, highlighting the imperative function of the state as a social protection provider. The pandemic has seemingly created favourable political circumstances for rapidly expanding social protection, but its influences on public welfare attitudes remain unclear. In this study, I argue that the impact of pandemic-driven economic risk is too limited to spur strong public support for social protection. The employed empirical analyses using panel data collected in South Korea show that unemployment induced by the pandemic is conducive to higher degrees of individual support for social protection measures, but the impact is only short-lived. Further analyses show that, once individuals are re-employed and as the time spent in economic difficulties becomes more distant, personal unemployment experiences are no longer positively associated with support for social protection. Finally, pandemic-induced unemployment experiences have a lasting impact primarily on young adults. The evidence therefore suggests that significant institutional changes in the welfare state are hard to achieve by solely relying on the impact of economic risk.

CONJUGALITIES AND WORK: Unemployment, professional experiences, vulnerabilities and protective factors

This article is the result of research that chose as its object of study the relationship established between experiences of employment or unemployment in marital partnerships. Considering that conjugal relationships are subject to influences arising from the broader context of their insertion, we sought to understand how work, or the lack thereof, resonates with them. The theoretical framework for analyzing the data collected through semi-structured interviews and treated using the content analysis technique was systemic-complex thinking. Therefore, the present study is characterized as empirical and qualitative, since 10 couples were interviewed, divided into two groups: in the first group, five couples composed of partners who, until the date of the interview, were employed; in the second group, five couples with at least one of the spouses unemployed. For inclusion purposes, we considered as research participants couples in a stable union or with a marital relationship made official by marriage, regardless of whether they are heterosexual or homoaffective. The research demonstrated the significant interdependence between employment, unemployment and the quality of marital relationships, both of which can sometimes present themselves as a protective factor, sometimes as a vulnerability factor. Through the valuable reports collected from the participating couples, it was possible to verify a still strong presence of gender issues around the theme of conjugality and work, that is, the couples interviewed are still very influenced by the heteronormative and sexist culture, which imputes to women a role of submission and less autonomy in relation to men.

Multi-level drivers of congenital syphilis, Oregon, 2013-2021.

Despite the availability of curative penicillin treatment for syphilis during pregnancy, congenital syphilis (CS) cases have surged in the United States, including in Oregon. We conducted a retrospective analysis of individual- and county-level predictors of CS among pregnant people with syphilis in Oregon from 2013-2021. Data were collated from surveillance reports, County Health Rankings, and other sources with upstream county-level data. We used multi-level Poisson regression models to assess associations between CS and individual- and county-level factors. Among 343 people with syphilis during pregnancy, 95 (27.6%) were associated with a case of CS. At the individual-level, a history of injection drug use and a history of corrections involvement were associated with an increased risk of CS, while a recent gonorrhea diagnosis was associated with a decreased risk of CS. County-level violent crime rate, unemployment, income inequality, and adverse childhood experiences increased the risk of CS. Higher county-level socioenvironmental challenges exacerbated CS risk, particularly among people with corrections involvement. Injection drug use, corrections involvement, and county-level socioenvironmental challenges increased CS risk among pregnant people with syphilis in Oregon. Urgent interventions are needed, including innovative care models, policy reforms targeting systemic issues, and enhanced collaboration with community services to address the escalating CS crisis.

How do different forms of early employment instability affect future employment chances? A factorial survey experiment with employers

PurposePeriodic economic instabilities and structural changes in the labour market have given rise to a variety of forms of job insecurity. This article compares the scarring effects of different forms of job insecurity on future employment chances, and how they vary across education groups.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of real vacancies and data collected in a vignette experiment with employers in Switzerland, a country with a strongly developed vocational education and training (VET) system, this article investigates how employers evaluate a period of unemployment, job hopping and work experience in deskilling jobs when hiring candidates.FindingsThe findings reveal that work in deskilling jobs is by far more scarring than unemployment or job hopping. The study also demonstrates that applicants with upper secondary vocational education are impacted the greatest by all three forms of job insecurity.Originality/valueThe study makes use of real vacancies. While experiments have the strength of high internal validity, most experimental studies in recruitment research rely on students as respondents. As this study works with real employers hiring for positions it benefits from high external validity.

Predicting satisfaction with democracy in Germany using local economic conditions, social capital, and individual characteristics

AbstractThis paper explores the empirical relationship between local economic conditions, social capital, and individual characteristics on the one hand and satisfaction with democracy on the other hand, using detailed information from the German Socio-Economic Panel. In contrast to previous literature, we focus on economic conditions at the state level instead of the national one. We find that local economic conditions, proxies of social capital, and individual characteristics (e.g., risk attitude, reciprocity, past unemployment experience) are important correlates of satisfaction with democracy and that some heterogeneity between genders, West and East Germany, and people with and without college degree exists in the data.

The Paradox of Job Retention Schemes: A Latent Growth Curve Modeling Approach to Immediate and Prolonged Effects of Short-Time Work on Job Insecurity and Employee Well-Being

Many countries rely on short-time work to prevent mass layoffs in economic crises. Despite serving to protect jobs, short-time work may trigger job insecurity perceptions, which may impair employee well-being. Moreover, past experiences of unemployment may increase susceptibility to job insecurity in response to short-time work. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory, Appraisal Theory and temporal stressor-strain models, this study investigates effects of short-time work on the development of job satisfaction, life satisfaction and affective well-being via perceived job insecurity across 6 years, considering previous unemployment as a moderator. We used propensity score matching to account for selectivity into short-time work and calculated latent growth curve models with N = 1211 employees in Germany (619 affected by short-time work, 592 controls). Short-time work predicted higher levels and an immediate increase in job insecurity, followed by a decrease over time. Both levels and changes in job insecurity were associated with levels and changes in well-being. Indirect effects of short-time work on well-being via job insecurity persisted 2 years after short-time work. We found no difference between previously unemployed respondents and others in their reactions to short-time work. The findings support COR theory and a prolonged stress-reaction model, showing lingering effects on well-being via job insecurity even after short-time work ends. The study supports short-time work as an antecedent of job insecurity and reveals temporal dynamics between job insecurity, its antecedents and outcomes over time. When implementing short-time work, employers should aim to mitigate concerns about job security to protect employee well-being.

The long-run effects of recessions on fertility

AbstractUsing large repeated cross-sections and a cohort-based econometric approach, this paper produces evidence that women who finish their formal education during periods of high unemployment have significantly, and persistently, lower fertility compared to women who graduate during more favorable economic conditions. In terms of magnitude, a woman who graduates into a market with a 3 percentage point higher unemployment rate experiences an approximate 14% reduction in birth probabilities about a half-decade later. The long-recognized negative effects of unemployment on marriage explain, at most, 30% of that reduction in fertility. Rather, graduating into high unemployment appears to exert its own influence on fertility, separate from its effect on marriage.

Subjective unemployment expectations and (self-)insurance

We study subjective unemployment expectations and their influence on economic behavior. We utilize a longitudinal data set combining survey elicited subjective unemployment expectations with administrative data on income, savings, and unemployment insurance. Our findings indicate that subjective expectations hold valuable predictive information about subsequent unemployment experiences. We find that individuals tend to overestimate their risk of unemployment. Moreover, higher unemployment expectations lead to a greater likelihood of enrolling in unemployment insurance and accumulation of liquid savings.

Predictors of psychosocial adjustment and its subdomains in young adults with hematologic malignancy: A cross-sectional study

PurposeThis study aims to identify the factors influencing psychosocial adjustment and its subdomains. MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 176 young adults (men 55.7%, 30.5 ± 5.9 years) diagnosed with a hematologic malignancy in South Korea. Psychological adjustment, symptom experience, and type D personality were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Clinical characteristics were extracted from the medical record. Stepwise multiple regression was conducted to identify the factors influencing psychosocial adjustment. ResultsThe predictors of difficulties in psychosocial adjustment were high symptom experience, type D personality, being unemployed, low functional status, and short time since the last chemotherapy. By subdomain of psychosocial adjustment, predictors of low healthcare orientation were high symptom experience, woman, and type D personality, and predictors of low vocational environment were high symptom experience, being unemployed, short duration of disease, low functional status, and diagnosis. The factors influencing low domestic environment were high symptom experience, being unemployed, and low functional status, and the factor influencing low sexual relationships was high symptom experience. The predictor of low extended family relationships was high symptom experience; predictors of low social environment were high symptom experience and short duration of disease; and predictors of low psychological distress were high symptom experience, type D personality, and being unemployed. ConclusionAs young adults with higher symptom experiences, type D personality, low functional status, and shorter time since the last chemotherapy, and who are unemployed experience difficulties in psychosocial adjustment, healthcare professionals should evaluate their psychosocial adjustment and develop strategies to improve the same.

“I’m Not Worthless, I Do Help Society”: Exploring the Lived Experience of Community Placement in Activation Schemes

Abstract Activation schemes are widely criticised, with the negative experiences of ‘the activated’ featuring prominently in the literature. This article presents the findings of a constructivist grounded theory study concerning the lived experience of long-term unemployment, welfare recipiency and community placement in activation schemes in Ireland, with a focus on the positive effects that participating in such schemes had on participants’ subjective well-being. For the participants in this research, community placement signified change, respite, and recovery that improved their subjective well-being by creating an experience that counteracted the draining experience of long-term unemployment and welfare recipiency. This study brings new elements to the discussion on the role of activation in promoting/diminishing the subjective well-being of the long-term unemployed.

Beyond the Income: The Normative Effects of Unemployment in the Goldfields of Welkom, Free State, South Africa

ABSTRACT “Beyond the income” puts emphasis on the need to go beyond income loss to understand the meaning of wage labour, and the effects that unemployment and inequality have on people. This ethnographic and in-depth interview-based research focused on the experiences of unemployment among South African black men—ex-mine workers in their fifties and sixties who had worked on the Welkom goldfields—and found that they suffered three types of loss: economic loss, psychological harm and social exclusion. These findings illustrate that, while income loss is crucially important for workers globally, unemployment has far-reaching effects other than income loss. Income loss interconnects with other types of loss (psychological and social). E. Durkheim (1964, The Rules of Sociological Method. New York: The Free Press) and G. Therborn (2013, The Killing Fields of Inequality. Wiley) foreground the importance of taking into consideration income loss, but they also demonstrate the need for approaches that take into consideration anomie and existential inequality to understand that unemployment has greater effects on its victims than only income loss. The research has relevance for the debates on basic income grants. Because the loss involved in unemployment is greater than income loss, ex-mine workers’ loss cannot be solved only by the income support offered through a basic income grant. The basic income grant would only go to the extent of responding to income loss, but it would be limited in relation to the normative aspects that were fulfilled by wage labour. The paper concludes by suggesting that going beyond the income broadens our understanding of the effects of wage labour, unemployment, and inequality, and that this understanding should inform research, policy (social and economic), and movement building.

Experiences of long-term unemployment from an occupational perspective: A scoping review

ABSTRACT Long-term unemployment impacts a person’s life and opportunities for participating in occupations. Despite the frequent occurrence of short-term unemployment, the proportion of long-term unemployment in Western contexts remains high and is growing, which particularly affects vulnerable groups and thus is an issue of relevance for occupational science. Research into the lived experiences of being long-term unemployed and how it affects daily life is limited, although the need to look more closely into unemployment has been recognized. The aim of this study was to describe people’s experiences of long-term unemployment from an occupational perspective. Due to the dearth of studies in this area, a scoping review methodological framework was used, resulting in nine relevant studies reported in English to be included in a thematic analysis. Results revealed three analytical themes: Experiences of occupations during and due to long-term unemployment; Experiences of occupational obstacles; and Experiences of occupational enablers. The daily lives of long-term unemployed people consist largely of occupations they perform for obligatory reasons, that is, to be eligible for economic subsidies for their survival, and less of anything related to what they want or need. People also experience obstacles that limit and restrict their opportunities of engaging in meaningful occupations. These obstacles could be seen as occupational injustices. Enabling factors also exist, but they are not available or possible for all. Being long-term unemployed changes people’s participation and engagement in occupations. By understanding the experience of long-term unemployment, it is possible to plan and implement better services.

Employment quality, past unemployment, mental health and wellbeing in the UK

Abstract Background Low employment quality (EQ) has been associated with adverse mental health. Past unemployment may also be linked to reduced mental health and wellbeing later on and may influence subsequent EQ. However, understanding of the role (past) unemployment history may play in the association of (present) EQ and mental health and well-being is limited. This paper aims to fill this gap. Methods We drew on a subsample of employees aged 25 to 60 from wave 4 of the UK Household Longitudinal Study. We applied Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to derive typologies of EQ within 6 dimensions. We fitted logistic regressions to assess the links between EQ, lifetime unemployment, and mental well-being and psychological distress (measured using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, respectively). Results The LCA yielded an optimal solution of 6 EQ clusters, with some similarities to previous typologies. Men and women in precarious employment forms characterised by unfavourable employment conditions including lower labour income and potential underemployment reported higher odds for low mental well-being (men OR:1.54, 95% CI:1.06-2.24; women OR:1.37, 95% CI:1.04-1.81), and so did women in precarious forms characterised by, amongst others, lower labour income and more prevalent long and irregular hours (OR:1.44, 95% CI:1.08-1.93), compared to those in the most standard and favourable arrangement. Some further well-being inequalities were observed across the EQ spectrum. Simultaneously, prior unemployment (of length) was also linked to reduced well-being among both genders, with no dose-response relationship. Precarious clusters were, however, not linked to increased odds of psychological distress. Conclusions Men and women in low EQ or with prior unemployment experience had higher odds of low mental well-being in the UK. Our analysis shows the need to consider employment trajectories regarding mental health outcomes. Key messages • Low multidimensional EQ and past unemployment experience of length are both related to reduced mental well-being in the UK. • No links were observed with regards to low employment quality and elevated psychological distress.

Intergenerational transmission or local labour market context? A comparative analysis of the formation of work value patterns in 65 European regions

AbstractThis article analyses the driving factors behind the formation of individual work values in European welfare states. By comparing relative preferences for extrinsic and intrinsic work values, we shed light on the discussion of the effects of intergenerational transmission and the structuring effects of labour market policies and regional opportunity structures on the formation of work values. Therefore, a multilevel analysis is applied using the innovative CUPESSE data set, which provides data on young adults and their parents in 65 NUTS‐1‐regions from 11 European countries. The results show that individual work values of young Europeans are most substantively shaped by the respective values of their parents. Furthermore, we demonstrate that individual characteristics such as sex, education and personal unemployment experiences determine preferences for work values. Finally, the paper shows that the local labour market context and welfare state arrangements also play a decisive role in the formation of individual work values.

Cross-phenomenon restrictions: Unemployment effects of layoff costs and quit turbulence

Cross-phenomenon restrictions associated with returns to labor mobility can inform calibrations of productivity processes in macro-labor models. We exploit how returns to labor mobility influence effects on equilibrium unemployment of changes in (a) layoff costs, and (b) distributions of skill losses coincident with quits (“quit turbulence”). Returns to labor mobility intermediate both effects. Ample labor reallocations observed across market economies that have different layoff costs imply that a turbulence explanation of trans-Atlantic unemployment experiences is robust to adding plausible quit turbulence.

Exploration of Dynamic Optimization Paths for Work Search Models under Incomplete Information Conditions

This article is based on the application exploration of dynamic optimization theory under incomplete information conditions. Based on the job search model and its extended model, this theory is analyzed in detail, explaining the relationship between unemployment rate and wages in the labor market, exploring the impact of Western labor unemployment formation, summarizing the experience of urban unemployment in the process of social construction in the new era, and developing high-quality and high-quality employment work for college students, It will have very important inspiration and reference significance.

Explaining diverging views on social structure in ex-Czechoslovakia: Does unemployment experience make subjective perceptions more pessimistic?

Perceptions of social structure typically only change gradually and their connection to economic development seems to be indirect at best. Times of rapid socioeconomic transformations such as the transition of state-socialist economies to market economy or the disintegration of a common state might witness more notable changes. Using data from four rounds of the ISSP Social Inequality module, we model how people see their position and the structure of their society on the example of the two ex-Czechoslovak countries. Both post-communist societies share the beginning of the transition to a free market economy in 1989 but are divided by starkly contrasting impacts of the transition on their labor market. We show that views on social structure in the ex-Czechoslovak countries diverge over time with Slovaks more frequently describing their society as highly unequal and seeing their position as lower in the social structure. We find support for the assumption that experiences with unemployment lower subjective social position and can be used to explain lower positioning of respondents in the Slovak sample. With regard to views on social structure, we find no clear connection to unemployment experiences. The chronically high unemployment levels in Slovakia therefore do not explain the higher tendency of Slovaks to see their society as highly polarized. Contrary to subjective social position, views on the overall social structure are most likely shaped by factors beyond immediate personal experience with economic insecurity.

Citizens’ candidates? Labour market experiences and radical right-wing candidates in the 2014 Swedish municipal elections

This article uses Swedish register data to study the labour market experiences of radical right-wing candidates standing in local elections. We look at different measures of economic insecurity (labour market participation trajectories, experience of unemployment in social networks and relative growth in the number of jobs for foreign-born workers vis-a-vis natives) and examine whether they are predictors of candidates running for the Sweden Democrats, the main radical right-wing party in Sweden, as opposed to running for mainstream political parties. We find that the labour market trajectories of such candidates are markedly different from those of mainstream party candidates. Those with turbulent or out-of-labour market trajectories are much more likely to run for the Sweden Democrats, as opposed to other parties. The same is also true for candidates embedded in social networks with higher levels of unemployment, while working in a high-skilled industry markedly lowers the probability of running for the Sweden Democrats, especially for male candidates with low educational attainment. We find mixed results for the ethnic threat hypothesis.

Doubly disadvantaged: Unemployment, young age, and electoral participation in the United Kingdom.

Previous studies examine how unemployment affects socio-political behaviour, but this literature has scarcely focused on the role of the life-course. Integrating the frameworks of unemployment scarring and political socialisation, we posit that unemployment experiences, or scars, undermine electoral participation, and that this is exacerbated at younger ages. We test these hypotheses relying on the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society datasets (1991-2020), employing panel data analysis approaches as Propensity Score Matching, Individual Fixed Effects, and Individual Fixed Effects with Individual Slopes. Results suggest that unemployment experiences depress electoral participation in the UK, with effect sizes around -5% of a Standard Deviation in turnout. However, this effect varies powerfully by age: the impact of unemployment on electoral participation is stronger at younger ages (-21% SD at age 20), and weaker to not significant after age 35. This is robust across the three main approaches and several robustness checks. Further analyses show that the first unemployment spell matters the most for electoral participation, and that for individuals under 35, there is a scar effect lasting up to 5years after the first unemployment spell. The life-course emerges as central to better understand the relationship between labour market hardships and socio-political behaviour.

The Life Course of Unemployment: The Timing and Relative Degree of Risk

We use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 to identify group-based trajectories of unemployment risk as workers age in the United States. Our novel methodological approach reveals 73% of full-time workers spend much of their 20, 30, and 40 s with a relatively low risk of unemployment. The remaining sizable minority varies in the timing and relative degree of their unemployment risk. Eighteen percent experience early career unemployment risk into their early thirties, well after the transition to adulthood. Chronic unemployment characterizes the labor market experiences of the remaining 9%. When expanding the sample to all workers, we find two key differences: the overall prevalence of unemployment is greater each year for all groups and the distribution of respondents across groups differs, with fewer workers experiencing Lower unemployment and more workers experiencing Early Career or Higher unemployment. Unemployment risk is shaped by experiences of long-term unemployment in young adulthood and early labor market constraints. Moreover, while men and women appear equally at risk of Early career unemployment, men are particularly at risk of Higher unemployment. Black workers were significantly more likely to be at risk of Higher unemployment, but only slightly more likely to be at risk of Early career unemployment. Since Early career unemployment risk gives way to steadier work for most, this suggests that some men and some Black workers face disproportionately high levels of employment precarity. Our findings point to the importance of a life course approach for understanding the relationship between unemployment and labor market precarity.