The Social Consequences of a Poor Economy
The LA Times had one of the strangest articles about the economy:
“Deaths go down when unemployment goes up,” says Christopher J. Ruhm, professor of economics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, who for the last few years has been publishing counterintuitive and controversial papers on the economy and health. Put total mortality numbers on a spreadsheet, he’s found, and the population’s physical well-being improves as just about every measure of economic health dips.
No one — certainly not Ruhm — is arguing that recessions are good. For unemployed individuals and for people who fear financial disaster — relentlessly forecast in headlines and top-of-the-hour newscasts — the outcome is mixed. Mental health worsens even for the vast majority who maintain their jobs, as the onslaught of bad news causes anger, anxiety and depression. And prenatal problems increase, leading to more miscarriages and higher infant mortality rates.
But even as people are worrying more, they’re smoking, drinking and driving less, reducing their risks of heart disease, liver disease and car crashes. People who have lost jobs likely cut back because of lost income, whereas those still employed may be cutting back as they stare down inflation and stagnant incomes.
Science News explains laid off workers spend more time alone:
“What we find is that even just one disruption in employment makes workers significantly less likely to participate in a whole range of social activities — from joining book clubs to participating in the PTA and supporting charities,” said Jennie E. Brand, a UCLA sociologist and the study’s lead author. “After being laid off or downsized, workers are less likely to give back to their community.”The first study to look at the long-term impact of job displacement on social participation, the research found that workers who had experienced just one involuntary disruption in their employment status were 35% less likely to be involved in their communities than their counterparts who had never experienced a job loss due to layoff, downsizing or restructuring, or a business closing or relocating. Moreover, the exodus from community involvement continued not just through the spate of involuntary unemployment, but for the rest of the workers’ lives.
“Social engagement often involves an element of social trust and a sense that things are reciprocal — that you give some support if you get some support, and you benefit from society if society benefits from you,” said Brand, an assistant professor of sociology at UCLA. “When workers are displaced, the tendency is to feel as though the social contract has been violated, and we found that they are less likely to reciprocate.”
…”Workers can be displaced early in their career, and they’re still less likely to be participating at age 60 than their counterparts who have never been displaced,” Brand said. “It’s not like displaced workers rebound and return to involvement. Displacement seems to change their whole trajectory of participation.”
The effects are strongest on young people, and anecdotally I can relate to this. During a prolonged period of unemployment a few years ago, I also happened to be living in the suburbs. Gas prices weren’t what they are now, but I rationalized many other reasons why I shouldn’t bother to meet up with friends in the city. Too late, too many errands, too much else. I kept mainly to myself during those months.
Thinking back, I realize it was that I didn’t want to burden others with my frustration. Facing the inevitable questions discouraged me. How do you explain what you did all day, apart from sending resumes out? “Yeah, still looking.” Small talk is so much more aggravating without any positive news.
On that note, the recession might benefit soup and coffee manufacturers: lonely people crave warm drinks. Psychologists say “social exclusion literally feels cold.” It also appears that during a recession marriage rates go down — and divorce rates too. Fewer people relocate or take other kinds of risks. People want to stand still, where they are…with a hot beverage.
Images by Joshua Jensen-Nagle
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