Is Not Having A Job Better Than A Bad Job?

Unemployment has negative health effects, but having a bad job can cause stress that's detrimental to well-being. Learn more in this episode.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain stuff,
it's Christian Seger. Many. People have had a job that
makes them miserable. Maybe the hours are erratic or long,
the work soul crushing, the employer thankless, or the pay
is just dismal. But still that's better than sitting at
home with no pay at all. Right, Well maybe not,

(00:25):
according to a new study out of the University of Manchester.
Prior research has found that unemployment is linked to health
risks like smoking and depression, and is even associated with
higher mortality rates, and getting a job after being unemployed
has been shown to have positive effects on health and

(00:46):
quality of life. Yet, the authors of the current study
found that people who were previously unemployed and moved into
poor quality jobs, those with low pay, low job satisfaction,
low job stability, and high job anxiety did not see
improvements in health or lower levels of stress compared to

(01:07):
those who stayed unemployed. The researchers used data on one thousand,
one hundred and sixteen British adults from Understanding Society, a
longitudinal study on life in the UK. They found that
transitioning into a good job was associated with improved mental health,
as compared to staying unemployed. Mental health was the same

(01:31):
for those who got a poor quality job and those
who remained jobless. But here's the surprising finding. By analyzing
levels of stress through hormones and other biomarkers like blood
pressure and cholesterol, the researchers determined that working a bad
job was associated with higher levels of chronic stress indicators

(01:53):
than remaining unemployed. The researchers even pointed out that these
biomarkers can be present before overt symptoms of ill health
actually manifest, so it's possible that people's self report better
health perceptions than the markers would actually indicate. This result
is unexpected considering many people may assume that any job

(02:16):
is better than no job. The researchers don't say that
unemployed folks should just sit and wait for the perfect job,
though being unemployed can present huge mental health challenges and
can even adversely affect some cultural groups more than others.
The researchers suggest people use their findings about the adverse

(02:36):
health effects of poor jobs to work with their employers
and doctors to ensure a healthier working environment. Today's episode
was written by Kate Kirshner, produced by Dylan Fagan, and
for more on this and other topics, please visit us
at how stuff works dot com.