Unemployment duration and affective well‐being in the young

Abstract

Data are presented from an Australian longitudinal study of school‐leavers. In each of three successive years after leaving school, three main target groups, defined by their current occupational status, were compared in terms of self‐esteem, depressive affect and mood using their at‐school measures as a baseline. The three target groups were employed, or full‐time students, or unemployed. The unemployed were further divided into five subgroups based on how long they had been continuously unemployed. The employed and student groups overall displayed well‐being significantly superior to the unemployed, although within the latter group those unemployed for intermediate periods were worse off than those unemployed for shorter or for longer periods. These results support the findings reported by Warr & Jackson (1984, 1985, 1987), who showed improved well‐being with increased unemployment duration among long‐term unemployed British men, thus establishing cross‐cultural generality. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.