Perceived Job Insecurity and Health: Do Duration and Timing Matter?

Abstract

I examine whether the health penalties of perceived job insecurity are influenced by the duration of the experience and the age at which it is encountered. Analyses of a national panel data set of Americans (N = 1,065) reveal a decrease in health among workers reporting persistent exposure to the threat of job loss; however, these health penalties are experienced unevenly across age groups, with young workers (18–34) reporting the fewest health penalties in response to persistent insecurity. In contrast, while insecure middle‐aged and older workers report similar levels of psychological distress and self‐rated health, the former are more adversely affected with respect to their emotional well‐being. I discuss potential cohort and life stage interpretations for these age patterns in the stress of insecure work.

Histories of Perceived Job Insecurity and Psychological Distress among Older U.S. Adults

“…Before adjustment, those who recently became insecure also showed higher depressive symptoms, but this difference was of smaller magnitude and was accounted for by their sociodemographic characteristics. These differences provide further support for the value of measuring exposure multiple times for the same worker, though it may not be necessary to follow them for 25 years, given that our findings are consistent with those from studies with much shorter follow up times (Burgard, Brand, and House 2009; Ferrie, Shipley, Stansfeld, and Marmot 2002; Glavin 2015; Magnusson Hanson, Chungkham, Ferrie, and Sverke 2015). …”

“…A small set of studies that have used measurements of perceived insecurity at more than one point in time have shown that persistent or increasing insecurity is more strongly linked to mental health problems than resolved insecurity (Burchell 2011; Burgard, Brand, and House 2009; Ferrie, Shipley, Stansfeld, and Marmot 2002; Glavin 2015; Heaney, Israel, and House 1994; Magnusson Hanson, Chungkham, Ferrie, and Sverke 2015; Swaen, Bültmann, Kant, and van Amelsvoort 2004). For example, using two measures of perceived job insecurity collected three years apart, Burgard and colleagues (2009) found that persistent job insecurity, rather than recent or resolved job insecurity, was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in a nationally-representative sample of U.S. adults from the 1980s.…”

“…For example, using two measures of perceived job insecurity collected three years apart, Burgard and colleagues (2009) found that persistent job insecurity, rather than recent or resolved job insecurity, was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in a nationally-representative sample of U.S. adults from the 1980s. Using two measures of perceived job insecurity collected two years apart in the mid-2000s United States, Glavin (2015) found that persistent job insecurity, but not recent or resolved job insecurity, was associated with psychological distress at follow-up, and that workers in their mid-thirties or older faced greater health penalties. Studies like these support the conceptualization of perceived job insecurity as a chronic stressor that potentially can persist for years, and show that a history of persistent job insecurity – as opposed to intermittent insecurity – is a stronger predictor of poor mental health.…”

“…The life course perspective emphasizes the ways that trajectories of role occupancy, most centrally in the roles of worker, parent, and spouse, vary across individuals in terms of the presence and ordering of roles, the duration of time spent in them, and the timing and frequency with which people transition between them (Dannefer 2003). A life course perspective also suggests that timing matters; perceived insecurity may be particularly stressful in midlife or toward retirement, as instability early in the career is more normative and occurs when younger adults generally have fewer responsibilities for the care of others (Glavin 2015). Older workers also may experience distress given their unique circumstances, such as age discrimination from employers, or perceptions that health problems that become more prevalent later in life endanger their ability to keep their jobs.…”

“…The few studies that have accounted for job loss have found that an independent association remains between perceived insecurity and mental health in most cases. Two studies of U.S. adults found a persisting association between chronic perceived job insecurity and depressive symptoms when adjusting involuntary job losses over follow-up, one using data from 1986-1989 (Burgard, Brand, and House 2009) and the other from 2005-2007 (Glavin 2015). A study of older workers drawn from the Health and Retirement study found that links between subjective expectation of job loss and depressive symptoms were robust to adjustment for actual job displacements over two year intervals spanning 1992 to 2006, but only among those 55 and older (Mandal, Ayyagari, and Gallo 2011).…”