Study on job loss: Those affected quickly lose their satisfaction with life

Created: 07/15/2022, 08:26

By: Carina Blumenroth

Anyone who loses their job makes cutbacks – when it comes to weekly shopping or excursions.

A study shows that the psyche and satisfaction also suffer.

When they lose their job, many slip into

– ​​one of the first steps in most cases is for those affected to register as unemployed with the

.

At the end of June this year,

in Germany were registered as

.

This comes from information from the Federal Employment Agency.

The numbers have increased significantly compared to the previous month, which the Federal Employment Agency explains by the fact that all

are now registered in the

.

But what does job loss do to people in the short term?

Researchers at the Institute for Labor Market and Vocational Research (IAB) examined this.

Study: Job loss affects material participation and mental well-being

Using various factors, the researchers Dr.

Stefanie Gundert and Dr.

Laura Pohlan deals with the

.

They looked at various

, including

.

For their study, they evaluated the data collected by the IAB from 2007 to 2018.

The effects of the corona pandemic were not included in the study.

Losing a job can affect mental health.

This is the result of a study by the IAB.

(Iconic image) © Josep Suria/Imago

Study: Material and social participation after job loss decrease significantly

Whoever loses his job is only at the beginning of many challenges.

For some, this is where the downward spiral begins.

The

makes it clear that when it comes to

, most things happen within a year after losing a job.

People have less household income, they have to pay more attention to money and, if necessary, do without material things.

Holidays or visits to the theater or similar institutions are usually canceled first.

Also, reserves can no longer be accumulated, which means that unexpected costs in particular can become a problem.

The study comes to the conclusion that the old standard of living is severely restricted.

Mental health and life satisfaction as indicators for the effects on the psyche

Losing a

changes a lot for the person concerned all at once.

This also affects

, as Dr.

Laura Pohlan explains in an interview with the editors of the IAB Forum: "Our study actually proves that losing a job after a relatively short period of time has a negative impact on the participation and well-being of those affected."

According to the study, unemployed people complain about

.

People's general life satisfaction also decreases as soon as they lose their jobs.

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Job loss: Depending on their level of education and background, people deal with it differently

The IAB study also found that there are differences in how people deal with unemployment.

A decisive factor is therefore the level of

of the person who becomes unemployed.

This shows that people with higher education are better able to absorb the negative aspects of job loss.

"This is probably due to the fact that those with higher qualifications often have more financial and psychosocial resources to deal with crisis situations such as losing their job," explains Dr.

Laura Pohlan of the editorial staff of the IAB Forum.

The chances of finding another job quickly are also higher.

Job loss: How can the negative consequences be cushioned?

Finding a job is often a problem, especially when you want to get out of unemployment.

Mental health suffers and this can reduce the chance of finding a job again quickly.

The researchers know that the

are particularly at risk of falling further and further into a spiral.

Dangerous points are the

and the feeling of

.

"In the worst case, those affected can get caught in a vicious circle in which the lack of job prospects and social isolation reinforce each other," says Dr.

Stefanie Gundert the IAB Forum.

To counteract this, the unemployed should be supported in finding a job again.

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A job alone is no guarantee for good prospects

However, a new job alone is

or better material and social participation.

It's all about the quality of the work.

These include

and

.

This emerges from information provided by the researchers at the IAB.

Data from the years 2007 to 2018 were evaluated for the study, which means that the corona pandemic was not taken into account in the evaluation.