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The social costs of unemployment: accounting for unemployment duration

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  • Carsten Ochsen
  • Heinz Welsch

Abstract

This article contributes to the literature on unemployment and well-being by investigating the linkage between personal life satisfaction and a macroeconomic indicator of the duration of unemployment. Using data for more than 50 000 individuals in 10 European countries, 1992-2002, we find that the social costs of unemployment, in terms of general unemployment's impact on life satisfaction, relate significantly and to a considerable extent to unemployment duration. It is thus not just the risk of becoming or staying unemployed that people worry about, but especially the prospect of staying long-term unemployed. This fear affects employed and unemployed people alike. Our findings provide a strong point for focusing labour market policies on long-term unemployment, in addition to considerations of human capital depreciation.

Suggested Citation

  • Carsten Ochsen & Heinz Welsch, 2011. "The social costs of unemployment: accounting for unemployment duration," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(27), pages 3999-4005.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:43:y:2011:i:27:p:3999-4005
    DOI: 10.1080/00036841003761900
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    Cited by:

    1. Mustafa Yurtsever, 2023. "Unemployment rate forecasting: LSTM-GRU hybrid approach," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 57(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Hedieh Aghelmaleki & Ronald Bachmann & Joel Stiebale, 2022. "The China Shock, Employment Protection, and European Jobs," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(5), pages 1269-1293, October.
    3. Laszlo Torok, 2020. "The Link Between Car Sales and the Economic Crisis in the European Union at the Time of the Covid-19 Epidemic," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(4), pages 1033-1042.
    4. Zwysen, Wouter, 2013. "Where you go depends on where you come from: the influence of father’s employment status on young adult’s labour market experiences," ISER Working Paper Series 2013-24, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    5. Chiara Mussida & Luca Zanin, 2020. "Determinants of the Choice of Job Search Channels by the Unemployed Using a Multivariate Probit Model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 369-420, November.
    6. Laszlo & Torok, 2021. "The Link Between Car Sales and the Economic Crisis in the European Union at the Time of the Covid-19 Pandemic," International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, vol. 11(1), pages 68-77.
    7. Wouter Zwysen, 2015. "The effects of father’s worklessness on young adults in the UK," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Ochsen, Carsten, 2008. "Subjective well-being and the duration of aggregate unemployment in Europe," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 97, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    9. Högnäs, Robin S. & Bijlsma, Maarten J. & Högnäs, Ulf & Blomqvist, Sandra & Westerlund, Hugo & Hanson, Linda Magnusson, 2022. "It's giving me the blues: A fixed-effects and g-formula approach to understanding job insecurity, sleep disturbances, and major depression," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    10. Hideo Noda, 2020. "Work–Life Balance and Life Satisfaction in OECD Countries: A Cross-Sectional Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1325-1348, April.
    11. Carsten Ochsen, 2011. "Subjective well‐being and aggregate unemployment: further evidence," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 58(5), pages 634-655, November.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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