A.P.A.

2012 - Psychological effects of unemployment and

underemployment
 Unemployed workers are twice as likely as their employed counterparts to
experience psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, psychosomatic
symptoms, low subjective well-being and poor self-esteem .(Paul & Moser,
2009).
 78 percent reporting money as a significant source of stress .
 Unemployment not only affects those who lose their jobs. Coworkers who are
still employed may experience a heavier work load and suffer from anxiety that
they too will soon be unemployed,so The current state of the economy
continues to be an enormous stressor for Americans.

Effects on Families
 Unemployment can lead to declines in individual and family well-being.the
stress and depressive symptoms associated with job loss can negatively affect
parenting practices such as increasing punitive and arbitrary punishment
Depression in children and adolescents is linked to multiple negative outcomes,
including academic problems, substance abuse, physical health problems,
impaired social relationships and increased risk of suicide .
(Birmaher et al., 1996; Chen & Paterson, 2006; Le, Munoz, Ippen, & Stoddard,
2003; Verona & Javdani, 2011; Stolberg, Clark, & Bongar, 2002.).

Effects on Communities
 The United Nations (2010) claimed that growing social inequality fueled by
extended, global unemployment will increase social unrest and tension and a
growing sense of unfairness. Because that the unemployment may result in
inadequate and low-quality housing, underfunded schools, restricted access to
services and public transportation, and limited opportunities for employment,
making it more difficult for people to return to work, Unemployed persons also
report less neighborhood belonging than their employed counterparts, a finding
with implications for neighborhood safety and community well-being

Facts
Unemployment does not affect all groups equally. Rates are higher among Latinos/as
(13.1%) and African Americans (15.7%) than European Americans (9.5%). Immigrants
(Kochhar, 2009) and people with disabilities (Shapiro, 2009) are also especially
vulnerable to layoffs as are those without college degrees (Leonhardt, 2009).
Unemployed women report poorer mental health and lower life satisfaction than
unemployed men (McKee-Ryan et al., 2005). Women are more likely to report that they
have consumed unhealthy foods, or skipped a meal as a result of stress. Women are
also more likely to report physical symptoms of stress, including irritability, anger,
fatigue and lack of interest or motivation and energy (APA, 2009). In combination with
other health disparities, the unequal impact of unemployment on some groups may
have devastating effects on already vulnerable communities.

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 SPSSI Policy Statement: The Psychological Consequences of
Unemployment.
Deborah Belle and Heather E. Bull

It is crucial that federal, state, and local governments increase support to unemployed
and underemployed individuals and their families. In October 2009, the U.S. unemployment
rate rose above 10 percent, its highest rate since 1983, and in hard hit states unemployment
topped 15 percent (BLS, 2009a). Unemployment rates are higher among Latinos/as (13.1
percent) and Blacks (15.7 percent) than Whites (9.5 percent; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
BLS, 2009a). Immigrants (Kochhar, 2009) and people with disabilities (Shapiro, 2009) are also
especially vulnerable as are those without college degrees - workers in construction,
hospitality, and retail are among those bearing the brunt of layoffs (Leonhardt, 2009). High
rates of joblessness are also found among youth between the ages of 16 and 24, a group now
experiencing a level of unemployment not seen since record keeping began in 1948. In July
2009 unemployment rates stood at 16.4 percent for White youth, 21.7 percent for Hispanic
youth, and 31.2 percent for Black youth.
Alternative government estimates, which include people who have become
discouraged and no longer actively seek work, as well as those who are underemployed (e.g.,
people working part time because they cannot find full-time employment), measure a 17.0
percent national unemployment rate (BLS, 2009a). Like unemployment, underemployment is
unequally distributed across the U.S. population, with women, younger workers, and Blacks
reporting higher rates of involuntary part-time employment and low pay, as well as higher
proportions of “discouraged” workers who have given up on searching for a job (McKee-Ryan
et al., 2005).
Limited benefits deepen the hardships associated with unemployment. Low-wage
workers, particularly those in minimum wage jobs are often ineligible for benefits because they
do not meet state criteria for earnings and/or work participation thresholds (Institute for
Women’s Policy Research, 2008; U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO, 2007). A GAO
study found that low-wage workers were almost two-and-one-half times as likely to be
unemployed as higher-wage workers but about half as likely to receive unemployment
benefits. Although the length of time that federal unemployment benefits can be received has
been extended, the United States still lags behind European countries in terms of the time
period during which benefits are provided (Rampell, 2009). The temporary nature of benefit
extensions further jeopardizes unemployed workers. Phasing out unemployment programs
before a full economic recovery is realized threatens to leave many workers without much
needed benefits (National Employment Law Project, 2009).
For many Americans health insurance is tied directly to employment, and losing a job
means forfeiting that health insurance, often for one’s family as well as oneself. Unemployment
is a major barrier to adequate health care. A New York Times survey found that 54 percent of
708 unemployed respondents had cut back on visits to doctors or medical treatments, and 47
percent of respondents reported being without health care (Luo & Thee-Brenan, 2009).

Psychological Effects of Unemployment and Underemployment

Individual and family consequences.

Job loss is associated with elevated rates of mental and physical health problems,
increases in mortality rates, and detrimental changes in family relationships and in the
psychological well-being of spouses and children. Compared to stably employed workers, those
who have lost their jobs have significantly poorer mental health, lower life satisfaction, less
marital or family satisfaction, and poorer subjective physical health (McKee-Ryan, Song,
Wanberg, & Kinicki, 2005). A meta-analysis by Paul and Moser (2009) reinforces these findings

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- unemployment was associated with depression, anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms, low
subjective well-being, and poor self-esteem. Unemployed workers were twice as likely as their
employed counterparts to experience psychological problems (Paul & Moser, 2009).
Unemployment can contribute to reduced life expectancy. In a longitudinal study in
which the employment, earnings, and work histories of high-seniority male workers were
tracked during the 1970s and 1980s, mortality rates in the year after job displacement were 50
to 100 percent higher than would otherwise have been expected. The effect on mortality risk
declined sharply over time, but even 20 years after these men had lost jobs, elevated risk of
death was found among those who had lost jobs earlier, in comparison to the stably employed
(Sullivan & von Wachter, 2009). Even after controlling for baseline health and other
demographic characteristics, unemployed workers report significantly poorer health and more
depressive symptoms than those who remain stably employed (Burgard, Brand, & House,
2007). Low paying jobs typically offer minimal opportunities to utilize one’s skills and come
with a host of negative outcomes (McKee-Ryan et al., 2005). Underemployment is associated
with decreased self-esteem, increased alcohol use, and elevated rates of depression, as well as
low birthweight among babies born to underemployed women (Dooley & Prause, 2004).
The stress of unemployment can lead to declines in the well-being of spouses (Rook,
Dooley, & Catalano, 1991) and to changes in family relationships and in outcomes for children.
Research dating back to the Great Depression found that men who experienced substantial
financial loss became more irritable, tense, and explosive. Children often suffered as these
fathers became more punitive and arbitrary in their parenting. Such paternal behavior, in turn,
predicted temper tantrums, irritability, and negativism in children, especially boys, and
moodiness, hypersensitivity, feelings of inadequacy and lowered aspirations in adolescent girls
(Elder, 1974; Elder, Caspi, & Nguyen, 1986). Subsequent studies have continued to find such a
pathway from economic loss to father’s behavior to child’s well-being (e.g., Galambos &
Silbereisen, 1987).
Elevated depressive symptomatology has also been found among unemployed single
mothers, and mothers who were more depressed more frequently punished their adolescent
children (McLoyd et al., 1994). Frequently punished adolescent children, in turn, experienced
increased distress and increased depressive symptoms of their own.
Unemployment may even impact decisions about marriage and divorce. Unemployed
or poor men are less likely to marry and more likely to divorce than men who are employed or
who are more economically secure (McLoyd, 1990).

Community effects.
The impact of unemployment extends beyond individuals and families to
communities and neighborhoods. High unemployment and poverty go hand in hand, and the
characteristics of poor neighborhoods amplify the impact of unemployment (Wilson, 1996).
Inadequate and low-quality housing, underfunded schools, few recreational activities,
restricted access to services and public transportation, limited opportunities for employment -
all characteristics of poor neighborhoods - contribute to the social, economic, and political
exclusion of individuals and communities, making it more difficult for people to return to
work. In a six country study, increased risk of mortality was associated with higher
neighborhood unemployment rates (van Lenthe, Borrell, Costa, Diez, Roux, Kauppinen, et al.,
2005). Unemployed workers also report less neighborhood belonging than their employed
counterparts, a finding with implications for neighborhood safety and community well-being
(Steward, Makwarimba, Reutter, Veenstra, Raphael, & Love, 2009).
Occupational networks are also impacted. Coworkers who have not lost their jobs
may suffer from anxiety that they, too, will soon be fired, and from a heavier work load, as they
must now take on the work once done by their former colleagues. Those who retain their jobs
in the midst of downsizing may experience comparable physical and emotional effects to
workers who lose their jobs (Kivimaki, Vahtera, Elovainio, Pentti, & Virtanen, 2003).

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Protective Factors
Countries with stronger systems of protection for the unemployed have lower rates of
mental health problems among the unemployed than countries such as the United States, with
its relatively weaker supports (Paul & Moser, 2009; Murphy & Athanasou, 1999). Poorer
outcomes for the unemployed are also found in countries with high rates of income inequality
and low levels of economic development. For these reasons, comparative analyses find that
U.S. workers fare less well than their Dutch counterparts in terms of mental health (Schaufeli
& Van Yperen, 1992). An economic and cultural climate that is more accepting of collective
responsibility for its citizens coupled with the availability of generous unemployment benefits
may make job loss less psychologically distressing.
The broader economic and political climate including unemployment rates also
influences the level of distress experienced. Workers who lose jobs when unemployment is
high may engage in less self-blame and consequently experience less psychological distress
(Dooley & Prause, 2004). Conversely, unemployment may be more stressful when general
unemployment levels are high because the competition for remaining jobs is more intense and
the chances for re-employment lower. However, other studies find no evidence that
unemployment rates impact the level of personal distress associated with losing a job (McKee-
Ryan et al., 2005).
The effects of unemployment may be especially harsh for workers of color and their
families. Even in good economic times, African Americans and Latino/as face higher
unemployment rates than do European Americans, and do so with fewer family economic
resources to fall back on. Racial and ethnic disparities in household wealth are even more
extreme than disparities in annual income. People of Color own 8 cents of wealth for every
dollar owned by Whites, and nearly 30 percent of African Americans have zero or negative
worth compared to 15 percent of Whites (United for a Fair Economy, 2009). Many African
Americans and Latinos/as face unemployment without the security of a family home, as
African American and Latino/a communities were targeted for predatory subprime lending
(e.g., adjustable rate mortgages that move from low to extraordinarily high, unpayable interest
rates; Bajaj & Fessenden, 2007). As the housing market crashed, foreclosures and evictions
were concentrated in many communities of Color.
Early research on the impact of unemployment focused almost exclusively on men,
although today women are equally likely to be included. In a study by Kessler, House, and
Turner (1987), women were part of a subgroup of respondents who appeared to experience no
adverse health effects despite being unemployed for considerable periods of time. In particular,
single mothers of young children and women married to men who were the chief family
breadwinners seemed to be protected from the negative health effects of unemployment.
Similarly, in Paul and Moser’s (2009) meta-analysis of studies published between 1963 and
2004, men were more distressed than women by unemployment. However, McKee-Ryan et al.’s
(2005) review of studies published between 1985 and 2002 found that unemployed women
reported poorer mental health and lower life satisfaction than did unemployed men. With over
70% of U.S. women now employed outside the home and heterosexual married women earning
36% of the income in two-parent families, future researchers may find that women’s responses
to underemployment and unemployment are increasingly similar to those of men. This will
likely be the case among female-headed households in which women are the sole or primary
earners.
The impact of job loss and of inadequate employment is lessened for those who have
economic, social, and personal resources to cushion the blow. Individuals who face
unemployment with more financial resources, as well as those who report lower levels of
subjective financial strain, report better mental health and more life satisfaction than those
who experience unemployment with fewer economic resources and a greater sense of financial
stress (McKee-Ryan et al., 2005). Such factors may account for a finding from Paul and Moser’s

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meta-analysis that blue-collar workers were more distressed by unemployment than were
white-collar employees.
Attributions for unemployment are also important in determining the extent of
distress following job loss. Those who blame themselves by making internal attributions for
their unemployment report lower life satisfaction and poorer physical health than those who
externalize blame for their situation (McKee-Ryan et al., 2005).
Other factors, such as social support, can also mitigate the negative impacts of
unemployment and underemployment. Being married is a protective factor during periods of
unemployment and underemployment, although having more dependents is a risk factor for
poorer mental health (Dooley & Prause, 2004; McKee-Ryan et al., 2005). In a longitudinal study
of men experiencing job loss following plant closings, Gore (1978) found that laid-off men who
reported a lower level of supportive connections with wives, friends, and relatives also had
significantly worse health as evidenced by self-reported illness symptoms and by elevated
cholesterol levels. Those few men in Gore’s study who blamed themselves for their own
unemployment were significantly more likely to report low levels of social support. Supportive
social relationships, including those that provide instrumental and emotional support, have
been found to be protective of mental health and life satisfaction among unemployed workers
(McKee-Ryan et al., 2005). In contrast, “undermining” by members of the social network (i.e.,
directing anger, criticism, or dislike toward the unemployed individual) was found to be
significantly associated with worse mental health among the unemployed (McKee-Ryan et al.,
2005).
As the U.S. economy pushes record numbers of workers into the ranks of the
unemployed and shifts others into poorly paid, part-time, and insecure jobs that fail to provide
the economic and psychological benefits of adequate work, it is crucial to adopt practices and
policies that protect workers.

Therefore, be it resolved that SPSSI:

1. Draw upon psychological evidence to support legislation aimed at reducing unemployment.
2. Advocate that federal and state governments strengthen unemployment programs and
related support to families of unemployed people.
3. Encourage state governments to modernize unemployment insurance by allowing part- time
workers to receive benefits.
4. Advocate that federal and state governments fund comprehensive job training programs and
educational opportunities at all levels for underemployed and unemployed workers.

Be it further resolved that SPSSI encourage other social science associations to draw
upon scientific evidence to:
1. Encourage and support research and advocacy related to underemployment and
unemployment.
2. Develop guidelines for working with individuals, families, and communities struggling with
the economic, social, and psychological impact of underemployment and unemployment. To
be effective, these guidelines must attend to intersections of gender, socioeconomic status,
race, ethnicity, and age.
3. Encourage the federal government to make the creation of full employment opportunities a
priority.

Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the research assistance of Melike Eger,
Alice Gomez, and Shirley Truong. The authors also wish to thank Randy Albelda, Lisa
Dodson, Bernice Lott, Miranda Schirmer, and several anonymous reviewers for their
helpful comments.

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This statement is intended to represent the members of the Society for the Psychological Study of
Social Issues, Division 9 of the American Psychological Association. It does not necessarily
represent the American Psychological Association as a whole or any of its other subsidiary
groups.

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