The social segregation of the long-term unemployed in Hartlepool

This paper reports on research designed to investigate the nature and implications of the social segregation of the long term unemployed in a Northern UK town suffering high rates of unemployment. The project is designed to test the hypothesis that the social polarisation identified by Pahl (1984), confirmed by this writer's small scale research, and apparent in national statistics, reaches beyond the household to the extended family, and to friendship and neighbourhood contacts. Work history evidence from a sample of 791 married couples is used to establish the importance of informal information flows in shaping employment prospects, and additional material is presented which shows concentrations of unemployment in particular kinship and friendship networks. These data, together with evidence that employed informants are the most effective means of job access, demonstrate that a complex of factors will act together to reduce the chances of the long term unemployed finding work.     

Child custody placement outcomes for mothers

Internationally there is a broad literature on risks for child custody placements. In contrast, very little is known about their outcomes on parents. The topic is relevant not only for parents themselves but also for children placed outside their homes, as many children keep contact with their birth parents or return to live with them. In a retrospective cohort study setting we analyze child custody placement outcomes (social assistance receipt, unemployment and work disability) for mothers whose children had been taken into custody between 1997 and 2004 in Finland. Data from a child placement register were merged with several administrative social insurance registers. Comparison groups of population mothers are included in the study. The procedure yielded an internationally unique database. According to the results of our study, mothers whose children are taken into custody are more often unemployed and in need of social assistance than mothers in the comparison group. Furthermore, they are also more often on a disability pension, due to mental health problems in particular, than mothers in general. While considering the results, we examine family policy and general welfare policy implications of support to families whose children have been taken into custody.     

The impacts of welfare reform on federal assistance to persistently poor children

During the late twentieth century, the US social safety net was transformed to incentivize work by providing generous wage subsidies for low-income workers and reducing federal assistance to able-bodied unemployed adults. Following the transformation and during the economic boom of the 1990s, welfare rolls and annual poverty rates plummeted, especially for children. Despite the economic boom, there were still many persistently poor children living with parents who did not work, and little is known about how the reforms impacted these children's finances. In this paper we compare rates of persistent child poverty before and after the welfare reforms and examine how federal assistance received by persistently poor children changed as a result of the reforms. We find that federal assistance to persistently poor children declined following the reforms, but with divergent results depending on parental employment. While persistently poor children with employed parents benefited from increased income via the Earned Income Tax Credit, those with chronically unemployed parents did not and also experienced substantial reductions in cash welfare and food stamps. These findings demonstrate how persistently poor children fared financially in the years following the reforms and suggest possible implications for the current period of high unemployment.     

Reservation Wages and the Unemployment of Older Workers

Our purpose is to examine the level of reservation wages among older unemployed (45+), and investigate what happens to the level of reservation wages as the length of unemployment increases. Using data from questionnaires completed by unemployed, we examined the reservation wages of 364 individuals and asked whether they would be willing to compromise in terms of their occupation, profession or geographic location to find a job. 112 of the participants responded to two questionnaires over a three-month period to determine the changes in their expectations over time. Additionally, we conducted qualitative interviews with 10 unemployed. We found that older people experienced longer periods of unemployment, and had a greater willingness to reduce salary expectations. The study establishes an innovative connection between older unemployed, reservation wages and the duration of unemployment, showing that higher reservation wages among older unemployed is the cause of prolonging their unemployment.     

The ecological effect of unemployment on the incidence of very low birthweight in Norway and Sweden

Little attention has been paid to the ecological effects of unemployment, despite strong theory suggesting that being socially or economically connected to unemployed persons can induce illness. Theory suggests, for example, that the labor market experience of adult males should affect maternal and infant health. We advance this line of inquiry by testing the hypothesis that quarterly increases in unemployment among Norwegian and Swedish males were associated with increased incidence of very low weight births from 1973 through 1995. Results support the hypothesis. We estimate that approximately 188 very low weight births could have been averted in Norway, and about 329 in Sweden, if quarterly increases in male unemployment had been constrained to the median over the 23-year period. Our findings imply that the social cost of unemployment may be underestimated by focusing on unemployment as an individual risk factor.     

Labour market integration of FRY refugees in Sweden vs. Denmark

We compare the long-run labour market integration of the Former Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) refugees who arrived in the 1990s to the Scandinavian countries in the settings of Sweden and Denmark, respectively. These otherwise similar countries faced different economic conditions at the time of arrival and over the observation period. They also differed in terms of the restrictiveness of asylum policies and in attitudes towards immigration. Using register data from Statistics Sweden and Statistics Denmark, we show that FRY refugees, in both child and adult generations at arrival, are better integrated 12–15 years later in Sweden than in Denmark, even though Sweden experienced a higher level of unemployment than Denmark throughout the period. Our findings suggest that asylum policies promoting early labour market entry and early exposure to a host country's schooling system, as well as access to disability pension and social assistance, are important factors affecting refugee labour market integration.     

The Receipt of Transfer Payments by Immigrants in Sweden

Using the native-born as a benchmark, this article examines the reliance of immigrants on Sweden's social safety net. Both in the raw data, and after conditioning on a number of explanatory variables, we find that there are differences between immigrants and natives regarding participation in the Swedish income security system. We also find that there are differences in this respect between immigrants from different regions as well as between more recent and earlier cohorts of immigrants. As regards unemployment insurance benefits and cash labour market assistance, no clear pattern can be discerned in the results. In the case of early retirement pension and social assistance, however, the picture looks different. Immigrants arriving at an early date from typical labour immigration regions are over-represented in early retirement. Immigrants, especially non-European immigrants with a recent date of arrival, are over-represented among recipients of social assistance. The overall conclusion is that the immigrants' total rate of participation in the income security system is determined by their rate of unemployment and their state of health. On the other hand, the distribution of their participation among the different components of the income security system is highly dependent on their length of residence in Sweden and where they come from.     

Personal Characteristics, Unemployment, and Anxiety among Highly Educated Immigrants

This exploratory study examines the relationship between personal resources (sense of potency, marital quality, social support from family and friends), the duration of unemployment, and the level of state anxiety experienced by highly educated, unemployed, middle‐aged immigrants. Studying the anxiety levels among populations at‐risk such as unemployed immigrants is particularly important in the context of situations of military conflict. In such situations, when formal support systems are in the process of erosion, the unemployed must increasingly rely on social and familial support. The following measures were examined in an anonymous, self‐report questionnaire: potency (defined as a person's enduring confidence in his/her own capacities and confidence in, and commitment to, his/her social environment which is perceived as being characterized by a basically meaningful order and just distribution of rewards), social support from friends and family, marital quality, and state anxiety. Results indicate that personal resources – particularly potency and social support from family – predicted the level of state anxiety among immigrants. Duration of unemployment was also positively correlated with state anxiety. A major recommendation that emerges is the need to foster the development of social support groups consisting of both veterans and new immigrants in order to broaden the social ties of the immigrants. This may assist newcomers not only in finding jobs, but also in coping with political and economic uncertainties in a new cultural context.     

The social capital and mental health of long-term social assistance recipients in Norway

Previous findings have generally demonstrated the positive mental health benefits of social capital. However, the mental health benefits of social capital for social assistance recipients have not been fully demonstrated. This study analyses the mental health benefits of individual-level bonding and individual-level bridging social capital for 551 Norwegian longer-term social assistance recipients. The findings demonstrate that bonding social capital, i.e. contacts with friends and access to social resources, are positively associated with mental health. Of the variables in the study that relate to bridging social capital, social trust and trust towards the social worker particularly show significant associations for mental health. Consequently, it is important that the mental health benefits of various forms of bonding and bridging social capital are acknowledged within social work practices and that social work practitioners actively aim to increase social trust in longer-term social assistance recipients.     

The Influence of Temporary Employment on Unemployment Exits in a Competing Risks Framework

Using Spanish longitudinal data from the period 1992–2004, this paper examines labour market transitions of the newly unemployed in order to investigate the determinants of unemployment duration in a competing risks framework with four destination states: temporary employment, permanent employment, self-employment and inactivity. Special emphasis is placed on the influence of previous job variables. We find that individuals who become unemployed due to the end of a temporary contract are more likely to exit unemployment by finding another temporary job and less likely to exit through permanent jobs, self-employment or inactivity. However, long tenures in temporary jobs enhance the probability of finding a permanent employment. Moreover, the length of the previous job, when it terminates due to a layoff, hinders the probability of moving to employment (either permanent or temporary).     

Unemployed by choice: young creative people and the balancing of responsibilities through strategic self-management

The Danish welfare system inadvertently provides a good opportunity for young creative people to pursue their dreams in creative fields such as art, acting, music while being on unemployment benefits. As Michael, one of the participants, puts it: ‘I consider unemployment benefit entrepreneurial support’. The subversive practice is illegal. This qualitative study investigates how young unemployed people who choose to be unemployed in order to engage in innovative projects in creative fields understand and justify their practice. Analysis of in-depth interviews with six young unemployed persons shows how the understanding and management of responsibility is pivotal in the self-understanding and legitimization of receiving unemployment benefits by choice, not out of need. This creative group reflects the contours of a new type of unemployed that has received very little attention in the research literature. The group challenges the traditional representation of the unemployed and portrays themselves as innovative, competent and able to cope with financial insecurity even though it is psychologically distressing and a risky path to go down. We characterize them as strategic self-managing as they use educational systems and unemployment benefit systems for something entirely different from what they are intended – they use it to create their own artistic life courses. This study tentatively points to a categorization distinguishing between personal, social and societal responsibility by which we can improve our understanding of responsibility in neoliberal contexts.     

The effect of economic stability on family stability among welfare recipients

The main rationale for defining two-parent families eligible for welfare was to keep families intact by eliminating an incentive for union dissolution. But there are other reasons for family instability, most notably women's reduced economic gain from marriage associated with having a chronically unemployed husband. This article explores the hypothesis that husband's unemployment increases union dissolution among welfare recipients. The analysis uses data from California's Link-Up demonstration project. A discrete-time event-history methodology was employed to examine family instability. The findings show that husband's unemployment and the family's long-term welfare dependency lead to breakup, net of race, age, and number of children.     

Self-rated quality of life among the young unemployed and the young in work in northern Sweden

This study analysed self-assessed quality of life (QoL), using a QoL questionnaire (H?rnquist's QLcs) covering life spheres, somatic health, mental well-being, cognitive ability, social and family life, activity, financial situation, meaning in life and a global score "entire life", for young people aged 18-24 in a population-based cross-sectional study in northern Sweden. Of these, 651 were unemployed and 2802 were in work (employed, students and in military service). Results showed that the young unemployed exhibited poorer QoL than the young in work and the greatest difference was found regarding their financial situation. Young men rated somatic health and mental well-being higher than young women. However, QoL in other essential domains was rated higher by young women in work. Close friends and money reserve were important for all participants, no matter whether they were employed or not. The risk of being young and unemployed was greater if the person had a worse financial situation, shorter education, and fewer leisure activities with other people. Finally, it was concluded that while QoL is poorer when in unemployment - both for the young and those who are older (aged 25-64) - psychological well-being, in contrast to several previous studies, is even poorer for young people than for those who are older. This is worrying in a public health perspective and could have implications for unemployment policies for younger and less well-educated age groups.     

Neighborhood effects of high unemployment rates: Welfare implications among different social groups

This study analyzes spillover effects of high unemployment rates on well-being using cross-sectional data for Germany. Context effects among the employed arise due to the informational character of high unemployment rates. Using data on job security perceptions as well as regional unemployment rates the paper shows that high unemployment rates cause negative externalities among the employed. In addition, subjective perceptions of job security depend on local labor market conditions indicating the informational value of employment data. For unemployed persons we cannot find any welfare gains owing to a social norm effect. Thus, the existence of a public bad is not more enjoyable the more people suffer from the public bad.     

“A Black Benefit”: Racial Prejudice Among White Welfare Recipients in a Low-Income Neighborhood

Welfare has been stigmatized as a benefit for poor African-Americans, in particular for blacks accused of sexual promiscuity and a weak work ethic. Stigma has been found to demoralize welfare recipients, alienate middle-class voters who resent tax expenditures for public assistance, and fuel conservative support for legislation limiting welfare. This article describes another aspect of the stigmatization of welfare as a “black benefit”—the belief by some poor whites that they have experienced racial discrimination when trying to access cash assistance and other benefits. Drawing on data gathered as part of a larger, 18-month qualitative study, this article examines how impoverished whites in Philadelphia view welfare receipt and race. Ugly racial epithets and stereotypes were typically used when describing frustration over lack of access to welfare and other social services.     

School-to-work transition: the case of Spanish NEETs

The school-to-work transition in Spain has become much more difficult and extended than before, with many young people today experiencing long periods of temporary employment, unemployment or inactivity. This article investigates the main socio-demographic characteristics of Spanish young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs). It also aims to compare them with their non-NEET counterparts in terms of social capital and family background. Analyses were based on a representative sample, corresponding to the year 2016, of Spanish young individuals ages 18–35 years (n?=?1.826). All analyses were stratified by gender and age group. Overall, the Spanish NEETs had lower educational levels, were mainly unemployed and married, except for NEETs between 18 and 24 years, who were rather inactive and single. They also experienced previous unemployment, had more unemployed friends, and were coming from poorer family backgrounds in comparison with their non-NEET counterparts.     

The Construction and Mobilization of Unemployed Interests: The Case of Sweden in the 1990s

In this paper, using a case of unemployed mobilization in Sweden in the 1990s, we examine the interpretive process by which unemployment interests emerge and evolve in public interactions with other political actors, especially unions, and argue that unemployed mobilization episodes cannot be fully understood without attention to interpretive processes. More specifically, we show how unemployed interests during the unemployment crisis in the 1990s initially were aligned with the labor movement at large, later became aligned with unions against the Social Democrats, and eventually gave rise to an independent federation of unemployed groups, which subsequently collapsed.     

On the sociology of women's unemployment,its neglect and significance

Although there is an extensive and varied literature on the nature and consequences of unemployment very little has been written about the experiences of jobless women. This is unfortunate since there are good sociological reasons why the reactions to job loss among women may be different from those of men. Empirical data tend to support this expectation although more research is needed and called for. Sociological studies of unemployed women could contribute to the development of theories about wage-work, family life and domestic labour. Women's unemployment also has a broader significance in that it bears directly upon theories of social stratification and social order that are central to sociological study as a whole.     

Regional unemployment,gender, and time allocation of the unemployed

This paper analyzes the relationship between time allocation decisions of the unemployed, gender, and regional unemployment rates. Using two cross-sections from the 2002–2003 and 2009–2010 Spanish Time Use Surveys, we find that higher regional unemployment rates are associated with increases in the time devoted to study by men. Regional unemployment rates are also associated with more time devoted to household production, particularly for unemployed men and women living in a couple, and to less time devoted to leisure, particularly for unemployed men with a working partner and unemployed women not living in a couple. We interpret our findings as evidence favoring consumption smoothing. Higher regional unemployment rates imply a lower availability of jobs for the unemployed, it reduces individual expectations of finding a job, and thus households may try to increase their time spent on household production to reduce market expenditures and thus maintain their consumption constant. Increases in the time devoted to household production during business cycles need to be considered in the analysis of the wellbeing of the unemployed. Consumption smoothing may imply increased wellbeing, but more time devoted to household production is associated with lower experienced utility of individuals throughout the day.     

Good for the soul: The relationship between work,wellbeing and psychological capital

Research shows that unemployment negatively affects a person's wellbeing, which in turn can impair their ability to regain employment. Studies also suggest a person's ‘psychological capital’ (PK) (personality traits that influence the productivity of labour) influences the impact of unemployment on wellbeing and facilitates re-employment. This paper combines various economic and psychological theories of unemployment, and using 2004 cross-sectional data from Australia, tests the hypothesis of a simultaneous relationship between employment status and wellbeing and the mediating role of PK. Results support a simultaneous relationship and the partial mediating effect of PK. Individuals with poor PK are at greater risk of being unemployed.