Unemployment and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Unemployment is the state of being able to work, actively looking for job, but unable to find any. It’s vital to remember that to be classified as jobless, a person must be actively engaged and looking for a job.
Our emotional, psychological, and social well-being are all part of our mental health. It has an impact on the way we think, feel, and act. It also influences how we deal with stress, interact with people, and make good decisions. Mental health is crucial at all stages of life, including childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
During the pandemic, both unemployment and poor mental health have grown. In 2020, 9.5 percent of Canada’s workforce was jobless. This is a considerable rise over the previous year’s 5.7 percent unemployment rate. Unemployment has continued to climb this year, reaching a peak and only start to decline recently according to Statistics Canada. Deteriorating mental health is partially owing to the social impact of pandemic limitations, but it is also linked to economic instability, job loss, and unemployment.
Mental illness will affect one out of every three Canadians at some point in their lives according to the Canadian Ministry of Mental Health. Suicide affects Canadians of all ages and backgrounds. An average of 12 Canadians commit suicide every day. Many more people have suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide for every person who dies by suicide.
Below is a problem identifying chart that includes a problem statement that considers the situation, those involved, and the environment.
Relationship Between Mental Health Issues and Job Loss
Unemployment has been shown to have a detrimental influence on a variety of health outcomes. Unemployment may impair one’s health through several mechanism such as:
· because of stress and low self-esteem caused by the loss of work’s day-to-day routine or the stigma associated with unemployment
· People are stressed because of financial difficulty, instability, and a reduction in their future earning potential (which damages health)
· from employment insurance system, which, through the claims procedure, employment capacity tests, and job seeking circumstances, can have a severe influence on mental health.
The negative effects of unemployment on mental health and life satisfaction, as well as physical health, have been proven to rise with time. Long durations of reduced income, job loss, or unemployment have resulted from pandemic limitations, and the length of these conditions are particularly concerning.
Rising unemployment
Public health specialists and economists predict Americans to experience continuing employment insecurity and stress as a result of the COVID-19 issue, which is causing economic turmoil unlike anything seen since the Great Depression. Psychological therapies will be critical in helping individuals deal.
Many of these individuals will require psychological assistance. Indeed, research reveals that a mental-health-informed strategy is not only beneficial, but also necessary: job search programs that do not include fostering people’s motivational and cognitive resources are ineffective. Psychologists can also provide insight into the physical and mental health effects of unemployment to policymakers.
According to Carl Van Horn, PhD, a professor of public policy and an expert on workforce and unemployment policy at Rutgers University, “Losing a job and being unemployed for a long period of time is both a psychological and a financial trauma”. According to him, mental health support can save a person’s life. While psychologists are unable to address the economic situation, they may “definitely assist people in coping with and managing it.”
Given a substantial body of research linking unemployment to anxiety, sadness, and loss of life satisfaction, among other negative outcomes, the mental health consequences of today’s job losses are expected to be significant. Similarly, those who aren’t counted in the unemployment numbers suffer from underemployment and work instability, two more consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
By establishing various “How Might We” for this problem, I reframed the problems as standardized tasks as shown below.
Mental health risks
Even without substantial financial burden, research on unemployment suggests that losing a job has a negative impact on one’s mental and, in some cases, physical health. “Work gives us with temporal structure, identity, and purpose, as well as social relationships with others,” explains Connie Wanberg, PhD, an industrial and organizational psychologist at the University of Minnesota. “When you lose everything, it causes a lot of problems for people.”
Those who are most vulnerable to mental health issues following a job loss are those for whom unemployment poses a direct threat to their existence. According to a meta-analysis done by Frances McKee-Ryan, PhD, a professor of management at the University of Nevada, Reno, those with lower financial resources and those who experience more financial strain from unemployment are less content with their life.
At the end of the day, humans require food. They are in desperate need of a place to call home. David Blustein, PhD, a professor of counseling, developmental, and educational psychology at Boston College, adds, “They require health care.”
However, losing a job has a detrimental impact on everyone. Unemployed people were more distressed, less satisfied with their lives, marriages, and families, and more likely to report psychological problems than employed people, according to a meta-analysis by Karsten Paul, PhD, and Klaus Moser, PhD, both of the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany.
Unemployment appears to have a causal effect, according to the study: Unemployed people’s mental health improves once they find new work, based on the longitudinal research. Studies of plant closures, in which everyone loses their job at the same time, demonstrate that virtually all laid-off workers have subsequent mental health declines. Evidence that job loss is harmful to mental health, rather than persons with poor mental health being more likely to be unemployed.
According to a new survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute in collaboration with the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), 54% of Canadians indicated their mental health has deteriorated in the previous two years, with women faring much worse.
People’s mental health suffers the most when they are out of work for a lengthy time, with those who have been unemployed for six months or more having the poorest outcomes.
Unfortunately, solidarity appears to offer little solace to people who have lost their employment as a result of the COVID-19 situation. There was no indication that leaving a job during an employment crisis had less mental health consequences, according to Wanberg, McKee-Ryan, and colleagues. According to Wanberg, losing one’s work because of a big societal shock is a two-sided coin. “Right now, there is a bit more camaraderie or solidarity because there is so much unemployment.” However, because individuals don’t have a simple transition to changing occupations, mental health suffers more.”
A typical customer journey map for an unemployed and mentally unstable person is depicted below as a well-thought-out human-centered design.
In a qualitative investigation by Blustein and his colleagues, they discovered more evidence of workers’ complex feelings when they leave their jobs. People who attributed their job loss on their own shortcomings felt worse about themselves, but they remained hopeful about gaining new skills and obtaining new, better work. Those who recognized systemic concerns, such as discrimination or macroeconomic forces, as a factor in their job loss had a more positive attitude about themselves, but they were also more frustrated about their ability to improve their situation.
After being laid off, a propensity toward less generous self-evaluation has been connected to poor mental health. Psychologists are also looking at the impact of underemployment on one’s mental health. According to Blake Allan, PhD, an associate professor of counseling psychology at the University of Houston, “evidence shows that work insecurity and instability encourage poor mental health, particularly if a person’s salaries are low or if they are pushed into temporary jobs.” According to new study on long-term work instability based on Australian data, people become less emotionally stable, pleasant, and conscientious after four years of employment uncertainty. According to Chia-Huei Wu, PhD, chair in organizational psychology at Leeds University Business School in England, who co-authored the study, these personality qualities are significant for both work performance and well-being.
“We believe that persistent job uncertainty might lead to such personality changes because it maintains a negative self-reinforcing cycle over time,” Wu explains. For example, he claims that work insecurity worry might cause people to focus more on the uncertain parts of their jobs and lives, which can distract them from efforts that could help them lessen job insecurity, perpetuating the anxiety.
Protective aspects in a person’s life may influence how well they cope with job loss. In a 2005 study, McKee-Ryan, Wanberg, and colleagues discovered that jobless people who had social support, were able to keep a daily routine, saw work as less fundamental to their identities, and had high aspirations for reemployment fared better after they lost their jobs. According to a study by economist Clemens Hetschko, PhD, and colleagues, those who classified themselves as “retired” rather than “unemployed” had higher life satisfaction.
“The interpretation is that the increase in life satisfaction is nearly entirely attributable to changes in stigma, identity, and how people regard you,” Allan adds.
It’s a two-way street when it comes to mental health and joblessness. Employability, getting a work, and staying in that employment are all influenced by one’s mental health. Unemployment creates stress, which has long-term bodily health impacts and can negatively impact people’s mental health, leading to sadness, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
In ten years, I hope to see this headline.
References:
Agency of Canada, P. H. (2022). Government of Canada invests in mental health and distress centres — Canada.ca. Government of Canada Invests in Mental Health and Distress Centres — Canada.Ca; www.canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/news/2022/04/government-of-canada-invests-in-mental-health-and-distress-centres0.html
Blustein, Kozan, S., & Connors-Kellgren, A. (2013). Unemployment and underemployment: A narrative analysis about loss. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 82(3), 256–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2013.02.005
Hetschko, Knabe, A., & Schöb, R. (2014). Changing Identity: Retiring From Unemployment. The Economic Journal (London), 124(575), 149–166. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12046
McKee-Ryan, F., Song, Z., Wanberg, C. R., & Kinicki, A. J. (2005). Psychological and physical well-being during unemployment: a meta-analytic study. The Journal of applied psychology, 90(1), 53–76. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.1.53
Miller, A. (2022). 2 years into the pandemic, Canada’s mental-health system is at a crisis point | CBC News. CBC; www.cbc.ca. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-mental-health-crisis-covid-19-pandemic-1.6382378
Pappas, S. (2020). The toll of job loss. Monitor on Psychology, 51(7). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/10/toll-job-loss
Paul, K.I. & Moser, K. (2009). Unemployment impairs mental health: Meta-analyses. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74(3), 264–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2009.01.001
Unemployment and mental health. (2021). The Health Foundation; www.health.org.uk. https://www.health.org.uk/publications/long-reads/unemployment-and-mental-health
Wu, Wang, Y., Parker, S. K., & Griffin, M. A. (2020). Effects of Chronic Job Insecurity on Big Five Personality Change. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105(11), 1308–1326. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000488
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