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Fear of Unemployment and its Effect on the Mental Health of Spouses

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  • Christian Bünnings
  • Jan Kleibrink
  • Jens Weßling

Abstract

Unemployment has been shown to have adverse effects on different aspects of a person's life, and even the fear of losing a job affects individuals negatively. In addition, not only the individuals directly affected but also their spouses and other family members might be affected. Using data from the German Socio‐economic Panel, this study analyzes the relationship between individual job worries and spouse's mental well‐being. The empirical results remain robust to different specifications and indicate that fear of job loss is negatively related to spouses' mental well‐being and that this relationship seems to be stronger in single‐income than in dual‐income households. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Bünnings & Jan Kleibrink & Jens Weßling, 2017. "Fear of Unemployment and its Effect on the Mental Health of Spouses," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 104-117, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:26:y:2017:i:1:p:104-117
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3279
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    3. Johnston, David W. & Shields, Michael A. & Suziedelyte, Agne, 2017. "World Commodity Prices, Job Security and Health: Evidence from the Mining Industry," IZA Discussion Papers 11251, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    5. Everding, Jakob & Marcus, Jan, 2020. "The effect of unemployment on the smoking behavior of couples," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 154-170.
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    7. Zhao, Yuejun, 2023. "Job displacement and the mental health of households: Burden sharing counteracts spillover," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
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    9. Jofre-Bonet, Mireia & Serra-Sastre, Victoria & Vandoros, Sotiris, 2018. "The impact of the Great Recession on health-related risk factors, behaviour and outcomes in England," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 213-225.
    10. Chadi, Cornelia, 2023. "Too stressed to sleep? Downsizing, job insecurity and sleep behavior," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    11. Nicholas A. Jolly, 2022. "The effects of job displacement on spousal health," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 123-152, March.
    12. David Boto-García & Veronica Leoni, 2023. "Distance Traveled in Times of Pandemic: An Endogenous Switching Regression Approach," Tourism Economics, , vol. 29(3), pages 571-595, May.
    13. Elena Cottini & Paolo Ghinetti, 2018. "Employment insecurity and employees' health in Denmark," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 426-439, February.
    14. Kokot, Johanna, 2017. "Does a spouse's health shock influence the partner's risk attitudes?," Ruhr Economic Papers 707, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    15. Jonathan Briody & Orla Doyle & Cecily Kelleher, 2019. "The Effect of the Great Recession on Health: A longitudinal study of Irish Mothers 2001-2011," Working Papers 201912, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    16. Vandoros, Sotiris & Avendano, Mauricio & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2019. "The association between economic uncertainty and suicide in the short-run," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 403-410.
    17. Dain Jung & Do Won Kwak & Kam Ki Tang & Myra Yazbeck, 2021. "How Do Job Conditions Amplify the Impacts of Mental Health Shocks?," Discussion Papers Series 647, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    18. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Lisa Farrell & Russell Smyth, 2019. "Neighbourhood ethnic diversity and mental health in Australia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(9), pages 1075-1087, September.
    19. Briody, Jonathan & Doyle, Orla & Kelleher, Cecily, 2020. "The effect of local unemployment on health: A longitudinal study of Irish mothers 2001-2011," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
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    21. Edmond Pui Hang Choi & Bryant Pui Hung Hui & Eric Yuk Fai Wan & Jojo Yan Yan Kwok & Tiffany Hei Lam Tam & Chanchan Wu, 2021. "COVID-19 and Health-Related Quality of Life: A Community-Based Online Survey in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-12, March.
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