The Impact of Unemployment on Health: A Review of the Evidence

The evidence suggests a strong, positive association between unemployment and many adverse health outcomes, however, there are likely many mediating and confounding factors, which may be social, economic or clinical.

Abstract

Evaluated on an epidemiologic basis, the evidence suggests a strong, positive association between unemployment and many adverse health outcomes. Whether unemployment causes these adverse outcomes is less straightforward, however, because there are likely many mediating and confounding factors, which may be social, economic or clinical. Many authors have suggested mechanisms of causation, but further research is needed to test these hypotheses.