$ > Unemployment and Health International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives Edited by Thomas Kieselbach, Anthony H. Winefield, Carolyn Boyd and Sarah Anderson + % First published in 2006 from a completed manuscript presented to Australian Academic Press 32 Jeays Street Bowen Hills Qld 4006 Australia www.australianacademicpress.com.au © 2006. Copyright for each contribution in the book rests with the listed authors. All responsibility for editorial matter rests with the authors. Any views or opinions expressed are therefore not necessarily those of Australian Academic Press. 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(Anthony Harold), 1937–. 331.137 Cover design by Andrea Rinarelli of Australian Academic Press, Brisbane. Editing and typesetting by Australian Academic Press, Brisbane. CONTENTS Foreword vii Introduction ix SECTION 1 Health Effects of Unemployment Chapter 1 Explanations for Deteriorating Wellbeing in Unemployed People: Specific Unemployment Theories and Beyond 1 Peter A. Creed and Dee Bartrum Chapter 2 Insecurity, the Restructuring of Unemployment and Mental Health 21 David Fryer Chapter 3 Justice Concerns and Mental Health During Unemployment 35 Claudia Dalbert Chapter 4 Quantitative Reviews in Psychological Unemployment Research: An Overview 51 Karsten Ingmar Paul and Klaus Moser Chapter 5 Unemployment, Secure Employment and Insecure Employment: Differences in Self-Reported Ill Health 61 Bengt Starrin and Staffan Janson Chapter 6 The Finances–Shame Model and the Relation Between Unemployment and Health 75 Bengt Starrin and Leif R. Jönsson Chapter 7 Retrenchment and Health Parameters: A Short Report 99 Dimity Pond, Elizabeth Harris, Parker Magin, Amber Sutton, Vanessa Traynor, Kate D’Este and Susan Goode CONTENTS (CONTINUED) SECTION 1 (CONTINUED) Chapter 8 Suicidal Ideation in the Long-Term Unemployed: A Five-Year Longitudinal Study 109 Bjørgulf Claussen Chapter 9 Quality of Life of the Employed and Unemployed in Turkey: A Comparative Field Study 119 Yucel Demiral, Alp Ergör, Belgin Unal and Semih Semin Chapter 10 Health and Lifestyle of Reemployed and Unemployed People Following the Japanese Corporate Reorganisation Law 127 Tatsuya Ishitake and Tsunetaka Matoba Chapter 11 Do the Health Consequences of Unemployment Differ For Young Men and Women? 135 Anne Hammarström and Urban Janlert Chapter 12 Mass Lay-Offs and Tolerance for Mental Illness: Racial Differences in the Economy’s Effect on Coerced Treatment 143 Eric Kessell and Ralph Catalano Chapter 13 Demographic, Occupational and Employer-Related Determinants of Long-Term Unemployment Among Danish Employees 157 Thomas Lund and Merete Labriola Chapter 14 Organisational Citizenship Behaviours in Relation to Job Status, Job Insecurity, Organisation Commitment and Identification, Job Satisfaction and Work Values 167 N.T. Feather and Katrin A. Rauter CONTENTS (CONTINUED) SECTION 2 Interventions to Limit the Health Effects of Unemployment: Activation Policies and Empowerment Chapter 15 Active Labour Market Programs for Young Long-Term Unemployed: Psychological Impact of Participation in a Recent Program 181 Anthony H. Winefield and Edgar Carson Chapter 16 Explaining the Negative Relationship Between Length of Unemployment and the Willingness to Undertake a Job Training: A Self-Determination Perspective 199 Maarten Vansteenkiste, Hans De Witte and Willy Lens Chapter 17 The Role of Limited Duration Contracts in Labour Market Transition 219 Ola Bergström Chapter 18 Youth Unemployment and the Risk of Social Exclusion in Six European Countries 233 Thomas Kieselbach Chapter 19 Can Volunteering Be a Moderator of the Detrimental Effects of Engagement in (Un)Employment? 259 Jacques C. Metzer Chapter 20 Restructuring and Outplacement in the Netherlands 267 Ellen Heuven, Arnold Bakker and Wilmar Schaufeli Chapter 21 Unemployment and Activation Policy: The Finnish Experience 285 Simo Mannila About the Contributors 303 Foreword There is ample circumstantial evidence indicating that unemployment, and underemployment, can cause or contribute to physical, mental and social morbidity. According to the United Nations Convention on Human Rights, the member states ‘recognise the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right’. In the same vein, the European Council concludes that ‘regaining full employment not only involves focusing on more jobs, but also on better jobs. Increased efforts should be made to promote a good working envi- ronment for all, including equal opportunities for the disabled, gender equality, good and flexible work organisation permitting better reconcilia- tion of working and personal life, lifelong learning, health and safety at work, employee involvement and diversity in working life’. And, according to Article 152 of the Treaty of Amsterdam, ‘a high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and imple- mentation of all Community policies and activities’. Briefly, then, the insights exist. But they are not implemented. Given the present world rates of unemployment, underemployment and overemployment, there is an urgent need for integrative approaches to: • minimise unemployment and underemployment • minimise overemployment • promote ‘the good job’ • humanise workforce restructuring. By bringing together researchers from all over the world and from a range of different disciplines, this book makes an important contribution to our understanding of the complex range of issues involved in combating the problems caused by unemployment and underemployment. Lennart Levi Karolinska Institute, Sweden vii viii Introduction The objective of this book is to present important new findings from leading researchers who have examined the health impact of unemployment and underemployment on the individual and the community. Importantly, this book brings together research findings from Europe, Australia, Asia and the United States, and across the fields of psychology, medicine, economics, soci- ology, occupational health and organisational development. There is growing interest in employment research, due to the recogni- tion that unemployment and unstable employment can result in negative health effects. In a world work environment where there is an increase in temporary and contract work (so-called ‘flexible [precarious] employ- ment’), where working part-time is more common, and where people may be expected to retrain for new careers several times over, workers are increasingly subjected to new work-related pressures. These changes in the work environment bring financial and social costs to both the individual and society, and research is needed to measure these costs and identify methods of reducing them. This book addresses this growing interest in employment and unem- ployment research, by compiling papers based on presentations by leading researchers at the Second International Expert Conference organised by the Scientific Committee Unemployment and Health of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) on ‘Occupational Transitions: Unemployment, Underemployment and Health’, held in Adelaide, Australia in December, 2001. The activities of this body bring together researchers working specifically on occupational health issues related to employment with those focusing on the health effects of being out of work in a society centred on paid employment. Thus the ICOH Scientific Committee tries to bridge these two areas that are traditionally separated and to reduce the gap between unemployment research and occu- pational health. The Adelaide conference was the second international con- ference. The first one, held in Paris in 1998, focused on interventions with unemployed people. Additional contributions have been invited from other leading researchers who were unable to attend the conference. The main aim of the book is to outline current theory and findings about the factors responsible for the generally detrimental health effects of being out of work or in unstable employment. In this context, the mechanisms underlying the ix