IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v63y2006i3p575-586.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The lesser evil: Bad jobs or unemployment? A survey of mid-aged Australians

Author

Listed:
  • Broom, Dorothy H.
  • D'Souza, Rennie M.
  • Strazdins, Lyndall
  • Butterworth, Peter
  • Parslow, Ruth
  • Rodgers, Bryan

Abstract

Paid work is related to health in complex ways, posing both risks and benefits. Unemployment is associated with poor health, but some jobs may still be worse than no job at all. This research investigates that possibility. We used cross-sectional survey data from Australians aged 40-44 (N=2497). Health measures were depression, physical health, self-rated health, and general practitioner visits. Employees were classified according to their job quality (strain, perceived job insecurity and marketability). Employee health was compared to people who were unemployed, and to people who were not in the labour force. We found that unemployed people reported worse health when compared to all employees. However, distinguishing in terms of employee's job quality revealed a more complex pattern. Poor quality jobs (characterized by insecurity, low marketability and job strain) were associated with worse health when compared to jobs with fewer or no stressors. Furthermore, people in jobs with three or more of the psychosocial stressors report health that is no better than the unemployed. In conclusion, paid work confers health benefits, but poor quality jobs which combine several psychosocial stressors could be as bad for health as being unemployed. Thus, workplace and industrial relations policies that diminish worker autonomy and security may generate short-term economic gains, but place longer-term burdens on the health of employees and the health-care system.

Suggested Citation

  • Broom, Dorothy H. & D'Souza, Rennie M. & Strazdins, Lyndall & Butterworth, Peter & Parslow, Ruth & Rodgers, Bryan, 2006. "The lesser evil: Bad jobs or unemployment? A survey of mid-aged Australians," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 575-586, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:63:y:2006:i:3:p:575-586
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(06)00084-0
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Siegrist, Johannes & Marmot, Michael, 2004. "Health inequalities and the psychosocial environment--two scientific challenges," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(8), pages 1463-1473, April.
    2. Marmot, Michael & Siegrist, Johannes, 2004. "Health inequalities and the psychosocial environment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(8), pages 1461-1461, April.
    3. Grzywacz, Joseph G. & Dooley, David, 2003. ""Good jobs" to "bad jobs": replicated evidence of an employment continuum from two large surveys," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 1749-1760, April.
    4. Macintyre, Sally & Hunt, Kate & Sweeting, Helen, 1996. "Gender differences in health: Are things really as simple as they seem?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 617-624, February.
    5. Graetz, Brian, 1993. "Health consequences of employment and unemployment: Longitudinal evidence for young men and women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 715-724, March.
    6. Siegrist, Johannes, 2000. "Place, social exchange and health: proposed sociological framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(9), pages 1283-1293, November.
    7. Godin, Isabelle & Kittel, France, 2004. "Differential economic stability and psychosocial stress at work: associations with psychosomatic complaints and absenteeism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(8), pages 1543-1553, April.
    8. Benach, J. & Benavides, F.G. & Platt, S. & Diez-Roux, A. & Muntaner, C., 2000. "The health-damaging potential of new types of flexible employment: A challenge for public health researchers," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 90(8), pages 1316-1317.
    9. Béland, Francois & Birch, Stephen & Stoddart, Greg, 2002. "Unemployment and health: contextual-level influences on the production of health in populations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(11), pages 2033-2052, December.
    10. Dooley,David & Prause,JoAnn, 2004. "The Social Costs of Underemployment," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521810142.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Giatti, Luana & Barreto, Sandhi M. & César, Cibele C., 2010. "Unemployment and self-rated health: Neighborhood influence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 815-823, August.
    2. Cooklin, Amanda R. & Giallo, Rebecca & Strazdins, Lyndall & Martin, Angela & Leach, Liana S. & Nicholson, Jan M., 2015. "What matters for working fathers? Job characteristics, work-family conflict and enrichment, and fathers' postpartum mental health in an Australian cohort," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 214-222.
    3. Milner, A. & Krnjacki, L. & Butterworth, P. & Kavanagh, A. & LaMontagne, Anthony D., 2015. "Does disability status modify the association between psychosocial job quality and mental health? A longitudinal fixed-effects analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 104-111.
    4. Imma Cortès-Franch & Vanessa Puig-Barrachina & Hernán Vargas-Leguás & M. Marta Arcas & Lucía Artazcoz, 2019. "Is Being Employed Always Better for Mental Wellbeing Than Being Unemployed? Exploring the Role of Gender and Welfare State Regimes during the Economic Crisis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-16, November.
    5. Liana S. Leach & Lay San Too & Philip J. Batterham & Kim M. Kiely & Helen Christensen & Peter Butterworth, 2020. "Workplace Bullying and Suicidal Ideation: Findings from an Australian Longitudinal Cohort Study of Mid-Aged Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-12, February.
    6. Thomas Hyclak & Chad Meyerhoefer & Larry Taylor, 2015. "Older Americans’ health and the Great Recession," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 413-436, June.
    7. Tonje Fyhn & Simon Øverland & Silje E Reme, 2021. "Predictors of employment in people with moderate to severe mental illness participating in a randomized controlled trial of Individual Placement and Support (IPS)," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 67(2), pages 150-157, March.
    8. Woorim Kim & Myung Ki & Minjae Choi & Areum Song, 2019. "Comparable Risk of Suicidal Ideation between Workers at Precarious Employment and Unemployment: Data from the Korean Welfare Panel Study, 2012–2017," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-10, August.
    9. Kim, Il-Ho & Muntaner, Carles & Vahid Shahidi, Faraz & Vives, Alejandra & Vanroelen, Christophe & Benach, Joan, 2012. "Welfare states, flexible employment, and health: A critical review," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 99-127.
    10. Mark Fransham & Ruth Patrick & Aaron Reeves & Kitty Stewart, 2020. "Did the introduction of the benefit cap in Britain harm mental health? A natural experiment approach," CASE Papers /221, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    11. Richardson, Susan (Sue) & Lester, Laurence Howard & Zhang, Guangyu, 2011. "NILS Working paper no 166. Are casual and contract terms of employment hazardous for mental health in Australia?," NILS Working Papers 26069, National Institute of Labour Studies.
    12. Susan Harkness, 2016. "The Effect of Employment on the Mental Health of Lone Mothers in the UK Before and After New Labour’s Welfare Reforms," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 763-791, September.
    13. Tipper, Adam, 2010. "Economic models of the family and the relationship between economic status and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(10), pages 1567-1573, May.
    14. Reeves, Aaron Samuel & Fransham, Mark James & Stewart, Kitty Judith & Patrick, Ruth, 2020. "Did the introduction of the benefit cap in Britain harm mental health? A natural experiment approach," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121527, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Ruth Yeoman, 2014. "Conceptualising Meaningful Work as a Fundamental Human Need," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 235-251, December.
    16. Tuulia Varanka-Ruuska & Nina Rautio & Heli Lehtiniemi & Jouko Miettunen & Sirkka Keinänen-Kiukaanniemi & Sylvain Sebert & Leena Ala-Mursula, 2018. "The association of unemployment with glucose metabolism: a systematic review and meta-analysis," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(4), pages 435-446, May.
    17. à sta Snorradóttir & Kristinn Tómasson & Rúnar Vilhjálmsson & Guðbjörg Linda Rafnsdóttir, 2015. "The health and well-being of bankers following downsizing: a comparison of stayers and leavers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 29(5), pages 738-756, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giatti, Luana & Barreto, Sandhi M. & César, Cibele C., 2010. "Unemployment and self-rated health: Neighborhood influence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 815-823, August.
    2. Michael McGann & Kevin White & Jeremy Moss, 2016. "Labour casualization and the psychosocial health of workers in Australia," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 30(5), pages 766-782, October.
    3. Lohela Karlsson, Malin & Björklund, Christina & Jensen, Irene, 2012. "The relationship between psychosocial work factors, employee health and organisational production – a systematic review," Working Paper Series 2012:8, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    4. Goldman, Noreen & Turra, Cassio M. & Rosero-Bixby, Luis & Weir, David & Crimmins, Eileen, 2011. "Do biological measures mediate the relationship between education and health: A comparative study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 307-315, January.
    5. Hyde, Martin & Jappinen, Paavo & Theorell, Tores & Oxenstierna, Gabriel, 2006. "Workplace conflict resolution and the health of employees in the Swedish and Finnish units of an industrial company," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 2218-2227, October.
    6. Ibrahim, S. & Smith, P. & Muntaner, C., 2009. "A multi-group cross-lagged analyses of work stressors and health using Canadian National sample," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 49-59, January.
    7. Donata Stonkute & Angelo Lorenti & Jeroen J. A. Spijker, 2023. "Educational disparities in disability-free life expectancy across Europe: a focus on the East-West gaps from a gender perspective," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-028, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    8. Sweet, Elizabeth, 2010. ""If your shoes are raggedy you get talked about": Symbolic and material dimensions of adolescent social status and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 2029-2035, June.
    9. Väänänen, Ari & Anttila, Erkko & Turtiainen, Jussi & Varje, Pekka, 2012. "Formulation of work stress in 1960–2000: Analysis of scientific works from the perspective of historical sociology," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 784-794.
    10. Mylène Riva & Christina Larsen & Peter Bjerregaard, 2014. "Household crowding and psychosocial health among Inuit in Greenland," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 59(5), pages 739-748, October.
    11. Steven Prus, 2007. "Age, SES, and Health: A Population Level Analysis of Health Inequalities over the Life Course," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 181, McMaster University.
    12. Thierry Debrand & Pascale Lengagne, 2007. "Pénibilité au travail et santé des seniors en Europe," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 403(1), pages 19-38.
    13. Johanna Lundberg & Margareta Kristenson, 2008. "Is Subjective Status Influenced by Psychosocial Factors?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 89(3), pages 375-390, December.
    14. AIZAWA Toshiaki, 2022. "Educational Gradient in Physiological Risk Factors in a Workplace: A decomposition analysis of biomarkers," Discussion papers 22046, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    15. Zimmer, Zachary, 2008. "Poverty, wealth inequality and health among older adults in rural Cambodia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 57-71, January.
    16. Ezeamama, Amara E. & Viali, Satupaitea & Tuitele, John & McGarvey, Stephen T., 2006. "The influence of socioeconomic factors on cardiovascular disease risk factors in the context of economic development in the Samoan archipelago," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(10), pages 2533-2545, November.
    17. Kim, Il-Ho & Muntaner, Carles & Khang, Young-Ho & Paek, Domyung & Cho, Sung-Il, 2006. "The relationship between nonstandard working and mental health in a representative sample of the South Korean population," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 566-574, August.
    18. Glorian Sorensen & Eve M Nagler & Pratibha Pawar & Prakash C Gupta & Mangesh S Pednekar & Gregory R Wagner, 2017. "Lost in translation: The challenge of adapting integrated approaches for worker health and safety for low- and middle-income countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-25, August.
    19. Cha, Hyungmin, 2022. "Past, present, and future dimensions of socioeconomic status and sexual self-efficacy of young women during the transition into adulthood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    20. Bridget O'Laughlin & Bridget O'Laughlin, 2016. "Forum 2016," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 47(4), pages 686-711, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:63:y:2006:i:3:p:575-586. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.