A new study has found that people employed in low-paying or highly stressful jobs may not actually be healthier than those who remain unemployed. The study by the University of Manchester was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. Its purpose was to look at the association of job transition with health and stress. The researchers compared the health of those who remained unemployed with those who moved into poor quality work. It examined the health impacts of good and poor quality jobs.
The study monitored over 1000 participants aged 35-75 who were unemployed during 2009-2010. It followed up with them during the next few years about their self-reported health and their levels of chronic stress. This was indicated by their hormones and other biomarkers related to stress.
The highest levels of chronic stress were in adults who moved into poor quality work. This was higher than for those who remained unemployed. People who found a good quality job had the lowest levels of biomarkers.
Working into any type of job (whether it was a good or poor quality job) was not associated with an improvement in physical health compared to those who remained unemployed. But good quality work was associated with an improvement in mental health scores. However, there were no differences in mental health scores between those who took poor quality work and those unemployed.
Researchers found evidence that formerly unemployed adults who moved into poor quality jobs had elevated risks for a range of health problems. This was compared to adults who remained unemployed. They found little evidence that reemployment in poor quality jobs was associated with better health and lower adverse levels of biomarkers related to chronic stress compared to remaining unemployed. Instead, the evidence suggested that it was associated with higher levels of chronic stress-related biomarkers.
“Job quality cannot be disregarded from the employment success of the unemployed. Just as good work is good for health, we must also remember that poor quality work can be detrimental to health”