Post by account_disabled on Aug 30, 2023 4:20:50 GMT
People working in low paying, unstable jobs show more signs of chronic stress than their counterparts who remain unemployed.
For the unemployed, finding a job can be a path to improved Switzerland Mobile Number List mental health, but only if it’s a good one, a recent study finds. Researchers tracked 1116 British adults who were unemployed in 2009-2010. Those who found good jobs enjoyed improved mental health outcomes, while those who found jobs that were stressful, poorly paid, or unstable saw no improvement. In fact, the physical indicators of chronic stress were even higher in people working in bad jobs than in those who remained unemployed. We spoke with study author Tarani Chandola, a medical sociologist at the University of Manchester, about the study.
ResearchGate: What were you trying to find out with this research?
Tarani Chandola: I was trying to test the common assumption that any job is better than no job. I have been working on work, stress, and health for a number of years, and people accept that having a stressful job is not good for your physical and mental health. But most people then say, “but at least you have a job,” with the implicit assumption that being unemployed is far worse for your health than having a stressful and poor quality job.
RG: What characterizes “good” and “poor quality” jobs?
Chandola: I used OECD definitions of poor job quality based on low pay (around or just below the minimum wage), low job security, low job satisfaction and control, and high job anxiety. Those in jobs with none of these adverse job characteristics were in good jobs, and those with two or more of these characteristics were in poor quality jobs.
RG: How does working in a good job affect previously unemployed people’s health?
Chandola: There is a marked improvement in mental health of adults who started working in good jobs, especially compared to any changes in mental health for their peers who remained unemployed.
For the unemployed, finding a job can be a path to improved Switzerland Mobile Number List mental health, but only if it’s a good one, a recent study finds. Researchers tracked 1116 British adults who were unemployed in 2009-2010. Those who found good jobs enjoyed improved mental health outcomes, while those who found jobs that were stressful, poorly paid, or unstable saw no improvement. In fact, the physical indicators of chronic stress were even higher in people working in bad jobs than in those who remained unemployed. We spoke with study author Tarani Chandola, a medical sociologist at the University of Manchester, about the study.
ResearchGate: What were you trying to find out with this research?
Tarani Chandola: I was trying to test the common assumption that any job is better than no job. I have been working on work, stress, and health for a number of years, and people accept that having a stressful job is not good for your physical and mental health. But most people then say, “but at least you have a job,” with the implicit assumption that being unemployed is far worse for your health than having a stressful and poor quality job.
RG: What characterizes “good” and “poor quality” jobs?
Chandola: I used OECD definitions of poor job quality based on low pay (around or just below the minimum wage), low job security, low job satisfaction and control, and high job anxiety. Those in jobs with none of these adverse job characteristics were in good jobs, and those with two or more of these characteristics were in poor quality jobs.
RG: How does working in a good job affect previously unemployed people’s health?
Chandola: There is a marked improvement in mental health of adults who started working in good jobs, especially compared to any changes in mental health for their peers who remained unemployed.