Getting Laid-Off May Lead to Early Death

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Studies show that the current economic climate may be eroding months or even years from the lives of those on the bleeding edge of insecurity.


When you lose your job, with no prospect of finding another one quickly, you give up a lot more than income. You are deprived of a sense of security, a source of self-esteem, a certain status in the community. And, according to recent research, you also lose something even more precious: a year or more of your life.

That's the conclusion of two prominent economists, Daniel Sullivan of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Till von Wachter of Columbia University. Matching death records with employment and earnings data of Pennsylvania workers from the 1970s and '80s, they found mortality rates for high-seniority male workers spike sharply in the year following an involuntary job loss, and they remain surprisingly high two decades later.

If this higher death rate persists into old age, it implies "a loss in life expectancy of 1 to 1.5 years for a worker displaced at age 40," the researchers report. Or as von Wachter puts it more informally: "We were convincingly able to show that if you lose your job, you die earlier."

But the risk of premature death isn't limited to those who have actually been let go. A growing body of research suggests a nagging, persistent fear of losing one's job is also detrimental to one's health. University of Michigan sociologist Sarah Burgard, who has extensively studied the relationship between job loss, job insecurity and health, calls this "the waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop problem." Given the current state of the economy, many people are anxiously awaiting the thud of that falling footwear.

...

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/141021/getting_laid-off_may_lead_to_early_death_--_but_there_are_ways_to_cushion_the_severe_health_impact_of_job_loss/

[cali]

1. So can any stressful event

[RainDog]

3. having no source of income and a family to support is more than "any" stressful event

it is the very source of survival in our nation.

[Chemisse]

6. And the loss of self-esteem just permeates your life

[ashling]

2. I better get my will written - I have been laid off w/out any prospect

so many times its not funny. That's part of the reason that I was able to go back to grad school, whatever good that'll do me

:shrug:

[Karenina]

12. Indeed! DO IT NOW!!!

We're conditioned to be so afraid of death that we procrastinate about putting our affairs in order. I'm talking to myself as much as you, ashling, as I do need to update. Make your wishes known verbally to your nearest and dearest. THEN DOCUMENT THEM. :pals:

[stray cat]

4. Retirement does as well - right?

[cabluedem]

5. Lots of men drop dead after retirement. I have seen it happen my whole life. nt

[FatDave]

7. self delete

[undeterred]

8. Less years to pay for.

Makes sense to me.

[JenniferJuniper]

9. Getting laid off in this country also usually means that you lose your health insurance

And having no health insurance can most certainly cause people to delay seeing about things that might ultimately be life-threatening.

[redqueen]

10. They should study other countries... countries with actual safety nets.

Instead of the sorry excuse for a safety net we have here.

[truedelphi]

11. Some hardy sopuls pull through none the less.

My dad lost two jobs between the ages of fifty and sixty. (Circa 1970's)

And lived to the age of ninety.

However, the healthcare situation was nowhere as bleak, nor was life so expensive.

[tomreedtoon]

13. Republicans want us to die. Simple enough.

I don't suppose there's any way we can return the favor.

[KamaAina]

14. Especially if you lose your health care as a result

:grr: