Unemployment and
Health
Unemployment among
young people is one of
the most serious problems of the Western
world, claims Dr. Anne
Hammarström of the
Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Her findings, as reported in the British Medical Journal, show
that young unemployed men tend to lapse into unhealthy behavior, such as increased drinking and involvement in crime. Young unemployed women,
however, are affected differently, developing more
physical illnesses, along with feelings of guilt, worrying that they are a burden to their families. Men get
significantly more attention from the public, since
their reaction to unemployment is more obvious, observes Hammarström. She recommends that “the
health care sector should be more alert to the effects
of unemployment on women.” The Journal concludes that “the only fully effective remedy is meaningful employment.”
Reading Skills and Employment
“Between 56 and 64 per cent of unemployed Canadians possess low literacy skills,” says a Statistics
Canada report, according to The Vancouver Sun
newspaper. A 1995 survey to test literacy skills in
prose, document, and number reading revealed that
36 percent of Canadians had trouble in all three areas.
In the “‘older’ industries, such as agriculture, mining,
manufacturing and construction, . . . literacy tends to
be lowest,” says the Sun. With employment declining
in these sectors, workers with poor literacy skills are
particularly vulnerable to layoff and displacement.
John O’Leary, the president of a literacy organization, noted that “to be marginally literate in 1996 is to
be cut off from a huge range of personal and professional opportunities.”
The Stress of Unemployment
The emotional and social stresses of unemployment can affect a person’s health, according to studies mentioned in the German newspaper Süddeutsche
Zeitung. The body’s immune system is said to be
weakened by such stress. Unemployed people are
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