A study from the International Centre for Lifecourse Studies, co-authored by ISER´s Professor Meena Kumari, used molecular evidence to establish a causal link between unemployment and long-term ill-health. The molecules, known as ‘inflammatory markers’, circulate in the bloodstream and are influenced by stressful experiences. High concentrations of these molecules are linked to vascular and heart disease.
Using data from two large health surveys, the study examined associations of unemployment with inflammatory markers among a sample of over 23,000 working-age men and women from England and Scotland.
Ruling out other possible causes such as generally disadvantaged socio-economic situations and participants’ health habits, unemployed people were shown to be 40% more likely to have elevated levels of the inflammatory markers, increasing their risk of cardiovascular illness.
Older jobseekers (48-64) were found to be particularly at risk, possibly indicating that long-term or repeated unemployment exacerbates the damage to health.
Results also varied greatly between the two countries, with much higher elevations of the inflammatory markers in jobseekers in Scotland than in England. Data from the British Household Panel Study and the Labour Force Survey showed that during the period of data collection (1998-2010), unemployment was higher in Scotland than England, and spells of unemployment were longer on average. This suggests that the relationship of unemployment with inflammation is strongly influenced by contextual factors.
Although unemployment is down since the recession, there still remain around a million jobseekers, over 40% of whom are young people.