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The Impact of Job Loss on Mental Health During the Covid-19 Crisis: Evidence from Tunisia

Author

Listed:
  • Khaled Nasri

    (University of Tunis El Manar)

  • Mohamed Anis Ben Abdallah

    (University of Carthage, Tunisia)

  • Fethi Amri

    (University of Gabès, Tunisia)

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of job loss on the mental health of individuals in Tunisia during the COVID-19 crisis using the counterfactual decomposition technique and the potential outcome approach. We begin by calculating mental health indicators for all the individuals included in the sample based on the WHO Five Well-Being Index. We then group individuals into two sub-populations: the first group included those who had lost their jobs and the second group included individuals whose status in the labor market had remained unchanged. Afterward, we use the Blinder and Oaxaca decomposition to explain the mean difference in the mental health scores between the two groups and determine the factors contributing to this difference. Our empirical results identify symptoms of depressed mood, decreased energy, and loss of interest in several individuals. Based on these three symptoms, we are able to classify individuals into three types of depression: mild, moderate, and severe. In addition, it appears that job loss had significantly contributed to the worsening mental health of the individuals.

Suggested Citation

  • Khaled Nasri & Mohamed Anis Ben Abdallah & Fethi Amri, 2022. "The Impact of Job Loss on Mental Health During the Covid-19 Crisis: Evidence from Tunisia," Working Papers 1599, Economic Research Forum, revised 20 Nov 2022.
    • Handle: RePEc:erg:wpaper:1599
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cuiyan Wang & Riyu Pan & Xiaoyang Wan & Yilin Tan & Linkang Xu & Cyrus S. Ho & Roger C. Ho, 2020. "Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-25, March.
    2. Dorrit Posel & Adeola Oyenubi & Umakrishnan Kollamparambil, 2021. "Job loss and mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown: Evidence from South Africa," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-15, March.
    3. Ben Jann, 2008. "The Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition for linear regression models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 8(4), pages 453-479, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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