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Chapter 30 - Long-Term Unemployment in the United States

from Part IV - Problems of Institutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2018

By
Ofer Sharone ,
David L. Blustein  and
Carl E. Van Horn
Edited by
A. Javier Treviño
A. Javier Treviño
Affiliation:
Wheaton College, Massachusetts
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Summary

As of 2015, the percentage of the unemployed who are long-term unemployed remains at levels unseen in the US in over six decades. A well-established literature associates long-term unemployment with a variety of social ills, including poverty, increased risk of physical and mental health problems, and deteriorating emotional well-being. This chapter describes the nature and scope of long-term unemployment in the United States and its impact on individuals and families. It also focuses on the issue of mental health and explores the causal relationship between long-term unemployment and mental health as well as the most promising solutions to the mental health challenges raised by long-term unemployment. The final section of the chapter focuses on the challenges that arise when long-term unemployed workers internalize the stigma of unemployment and blame themselves for their labor market difficulties, and it considers possible causes of and solutions to such self-blame.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems , pp. 551 - 566
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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