Health Consequences of Unemployment

            This paper aims to provide deep insights regarding the Unemployment and its effects on the health of the individuals. Many researchers have studied the consequences of unemployment on health and have concluded that unemployment is not good for health. This paper will discuss the issue of unemployment in detail and its effect on health. Moreover, the article will provide detail solution regarding mitigation of unemployment and how different institutions and authorities can collaborate to facilitate such individuals who are suffering from this issue. “The government can promote entrepreneurship in the country to mitigate the issue of unemployment.”

Problem Statement of Health Consequences of Unemployment

        In many countries around the world, unemployment is a significant issue which is not only causing problems for economic growth but also cause a substantial impact on the health of the individuals. The people who are unemployed suffer from stress and depression that leads to various mental and physical health issues. The unemployment rate increases when the organizations are suffering from financial loss or the external environmental factors are causing a problem for the businesses. Major external environment factors that affect the organization include economic factors, legal factors, political factors, and technological factors. When sudden changes occur in the environmental factors, they directly impact the sales or operations of the organizations which results in various cost reduction approaches in which layoff is among the most common technique.

        Due to layoff or termination of employees the unemployment level increases which have a negative impact on the individual. Many studies have shown that unemployment hurts health. Therefore it is essential to mitigate or control the rate of unemployment in the country. If the level of unemployment is not reduced that country will not experience economic growth, and several people can suffer from various issues which include a rise in poverty level and health issues. It means that reducing unemployment rate has enormous significance. Unemployment is a grave matter which has long-lasting consequences on health and economy (Andersen, 2009).

        The proposed solution is “the government can promote entrepreneurship in the country to mitigate the issue of unemployment.” It is the best solution for mitigating the rate of unemployment in any country. Entrepreneurship promotes unique business ideas and allows people to be self-employed. There is a need to encourage entrepreneurship skills in the people so that they can perform business activities efficiently. There is a need to control unemployment and focus on this issue because it leads to an increase in crime rate, health issues and a decline in economic activity. Following is the detail literature review of different studies which have discussed the unemployment and their possible effects on the health of various individuals.

Literature Review of Health Consequences of Unemployment

        Before providing a detailed analysis of the issue and its possible solution, it is essential to evaluate the studies of various researchers who have discussed unemployment in detail. The literature review has shown that many researchers have studied the relationship between unemployment and health. The researchers have focused on various aspects of unemployment and how it affects the mental and physical health. These studies indicate the significance of the unemployment issue and why it is necessary to control this issue. It is evident that if the government or concerned authorities are not going to focus on the subject than it will have serious consequences not only for the organizations 7 economies but also for those people who are suffering from unemployment problem. It has been seen that in many countries the governments are taking special initiatives to mitigate the risk of unemployment.

        In the study conducted by Fredrik Norstrom, Pekka Virtanen, Anne Hammarstrom, Per E Gustafsson & Urban Janlert (2014) have provided a brief overview regarding the unemployment issue and how it affects the health of the individual. In the study, the researchers have stated that in previous reviews the researchers have not provided detail information and research gap exists. In this study, the researchers have focused on subgroups to analyze the effect of unemployment. The data for the study is gathered from 41 articles. All the pieces were from the year 2003 or later. The findings of the study have shown that unemployment has a significant impact on the health of different subgroups. The results of the study indicate that the unemployment effect different subsets differently. In the end, it is concluded that further research is required to investigate this issue in detail (Norström, Virtanen, Hammarström, Gustafsson, & Janlert, 2014).

        A study conducted by Susan Gore (1978) have provided deep insights regarding the unemployment and its impact on the health. The researcher has discussed the issue in the perspective of social support. For gathering the data 100 employed individuals were interviewed. The results of the study have shown that the individual who is unemployed in rural areas receive more social support than the individual who is unemployed in urban areas. The research has shown that the individual who gets social support have received less impact of unemployment on health than those individuals who did not receive social assistance. It can be said that this research has a huge scope because of its massive amount of detail. The future researchers can also use this study to investigate the unemployment issue (GORE, 1978) further.

        Samuel H. Osipow & Louise F. Fitzgerald (1993) have discussed the issue of unemployment concerning mental health. The researchers have stated that unemployment has a significant impact on mental health. When someone gets unemployed, it feels a huge level of stress and its sense of wellbeing disturbs. To gather the information for the study, an extensive literature review is performed to collect the data for the study. The findings of the study have shown that unemployment do have a significant impact on mental health. In the study, it is suggested that the authorities should focus on the mental health of the employees. The research has enormous implications for the future, and future researchers can also use this study for their research (OSIPOW & FITZGERALD, 1993).

        In the study, Signe Hald Andersen (2009) have discussed the unemployment and the wellbeing. The study has been conducted with the perspective of social class. In the review, the researcher has stated that the social class position does matter in analyzing the unemployment effect. The data is gathered from a household panel survey in the United Kingdom. The findings of the study indicate that the middle class of the social experience the highest effect of unemployment. However further research is required to analyze the impact on unemployment of various individuals and social classes. This study can prove beneficial for many future researchers (Andersen, 2009).

        The researchers Anne Hammarstrom & Urban Janlert (2005) have discussed the issue of unemployment from the public health perspective. According to the researchers, the study has a significant impact on health, and necessary steps should be taken to mitigate the level of unemployment. In this study, an agenda is provided regarding the unemployment issue. The findings of the study state that there is a need to control the level of unemployment because it has a significant impact on public health. The study will be beneficial for future researchers and can prove helpful for conducting future research on the unemployment topic (Hammarström & Janlert, 2005).

Solution of Health Consequences of Unemployment

        The Extensive literature review has provided brief information regarding the unemployment issue and why it is necessary to mitigate the unemployment rate. Various studies have focused on the relationship of unemployment with health issues. After gathering the information from the literature, it is evident that there is a need to provide such a solution which will control the level of the unemployment rate and manage the health of the employees. To reduce the unemployment rate in the country, it is suggested that the government should promote entrepreneurship so that different individuals can run the business effectively and come up with unique ideas.

            Entrepreneurship is an excellent way to reduce the unemployment rate. When people are going to generate new business ideas than the business will become successful and in future, it will provide employment opportunities for other individuals as well. There is a need to promote entrepreneurship skills in the individuals so that they can come up with such ideas which provide something new to society and the business become successful. Through entrepreneurship, the economic activity will increase which will ultimately become a reason for economic growth in the country. When economic activity increases, new employment opportunities open for the people which reduce the unemployment rate (Andersen, 2009).

            Another solution that is proposed is to provide training to the employees to manage the level of stress and if the organization takes a decision regarding layoff how employees can handle this situation accurately. The studies have shown that some employees are not given proper training to handle various situations correctly. It is essential for the employee to stay calm if the organization decide layoff. Therefore it is suggested to provide training to the employees to handle various situations appropriately. In the organization seminars or workshop can be held to provide information to the employees regarding unemployment.

        Many studies have shown that unemployment hurts health. Therefore it is essential to mitigate or control the rate of unemployment in the country. If the level of unemployment is not reduced that country will not experience economic growth, and several people can suffer from various issues which include a rise in poverty level and health issues. The government can promote entrepreneurship in the country to mitigate the problem of unemployment. It is the best solution for reducing the rate of unemployment in any country. Entrepreneurship helps unique business ideas and allows people to be self-employed. There is a need to promote entrepreneurship skills in the people so that they can perform business activities efficiently (Norström, Virtanen, Hammarström, Gustafsson, & Janlert, 2014).

Discussion of Health Consequences of Unemployment

        In the world, the organizations are facing fierce competition and are implementing various strategies to improve their profitability and reduce costs. Sometimes due to change in economic conditions the organization implement such policies which employee unable to manage accurately and ultimately the level of stress increases in the organization. When the level of stress increases than the employee turnover in the organization increases. This means that the unemployment rate will also increase. Various studies have shown consequences of unemployment in detail which means that unemployment.

        It is essential for the organizations and authorities to control unemployment because the issues that arise from unemployment will have a negative impact on the society. The increase in the unemployment rate is not good for the economy and increase the level of stress in individuals. If the health of the people gets affected, then they will be unable to work efficiently, and the standard of living of the people will not improve. Today everyone wants to live a life in which a person has all those things which a wealthy person have. To achieve this dream, it is necessary that everyone have equal employment opportunity.

Conclusion on Health Consequences of Unemployment

        If all the above discussion is summarized than it is evident that many studies have shown that unemployment have a bad effect on health. Therefore it is essential to mitigate or control the rate of unemployment in the country. If the level of unemployment is not reduced that country will not experience economic growth, and several people can suffer from various issues which include a rise in poverty level and health issues. The government can promote entrepreneurship in the country to mitigate the problem of unemployment. It is the best solution for reducing the rate of unemployment in any country. Entrepreneurship helps unique business ideas and allows people to be self-employed. There is a need to encourage entrepreneurship skills in the people so that they can perform business activities efficiently.

        Entrepreneurship is a good way to reduce the unemployment rate. When people are going to generate new business ideas than the business will become successful and in future, it will provide employment opportunities for other individuals as well.  Another solution that is proposed is to provide training to the employees to manage the level of stress and if an organization takes a decision regarding layoff how employees can handle this situation accurately.

References of Health Consequences of Unemployment

Andersen, S. H. (2009). Unemployment and Subjective Well-Being A Question of Class? 36, 3-25.

GORE, S. (1978). THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL SUPPORT IN MODERATING THE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF UNEMPLOYMENT. 19, 157-165.

Hammarström, A., & Janlert, U. (2005). AN AGENDA FOR UNEMPLOYMENT RESEARCH: A CHALLENGE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH. 35, 765–777.

Norström, F., Virtanen, P., Hammarström, A., Gustafsson, P. E., & Janlert, U. (2014). How does unemployment affect self-assessed health? A systematic review was focusing on subgroup effects. 1-13.

OSIPOW, S. H., & Fitzgerald, L. F. (1993). Unemployment relationship and mental health: A neglected relationship. 59~63.