Self-reported unemployment status and recession: An analysis on the Italian population with and without mental health problems

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 12; no. 4; p. e0174135
• Main Authors: Starace, Fabrizio, Mungai, Francesco, Sarti, Elena, Addabbo, Tindara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 04-04-2017; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Age; Alcoholic beverages; Analysis; Anxiety; Colleges & universities; Construction; Correlation analysis; Cost engineering; Data processing; Demographics; Differentiation; Disabilities; Drug abuse; Drug dependence; Economic analysis; Economic aspects; Economic conditions; Economic crisis; Economic decline; Economic Recession - statistics & numerical data; Economics; Female; Government; Health aspects; Health care; Health policy; Health problems; Health Status; Heterogeneity; Households; Humans; Indicators; Information dissemination; Italians; Italy; Italy - epidemiology; Labor market; Literature reviews; Male; Males; Marketing; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - economics; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental health; Mental Health - statistics & numerical data; Middle Aged; Migrant workers; People and Places; Policies; Politics; Polls & surveys; Population studies; Poverty; Psychiatry; Psychological aspects; Psychological factors; Public health; Recessions; Reliability; Risk; Risk Factors; Samples; Schizophrenia; Self Report; Social organization; Social policy; Social Sciences; Social services; Socioeconomic Factors; Statistical analysis; Studies; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Unemployment; Unemployment - psychology; Unemployment - statistics & numerical data; Workers; Young Adult; Italy
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174135

During economic recession people with mental health problems have higher risk of losing their job. This paper analyses the issue by considering the Italian rates of unemployment amongst individuals with and without mental health problems in 2005 and 2013, that is prior and during the economic crisis.
We used data from the National surveys on "Health conditions and use of health services" carried out by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) for the years 2005 and 2013. The surveys collected information on the health status and socioeconomic conditions of the Italian population. Self-reported unemployment status was analysed amongst individuals with and without reported mental health problems. In addition, descriptive statistics were performed in order to detect possible differences in the risk of unemployment within different regional contexts characterised by different socio-economic conditions.
The recession determined increased disparities in unemployment rates between people with and without mental health problems. Regardless to the presence of mental health problems, young people were more likely to be unemployed. Among people who reported mental health problems, males were more likely to be unemployed than females. People with low education level were more likely to be unemployed, particularly during the recession and in presence of mental health problems. Changes in unemployment rates due to the crisis showed different patterns across different regions of the Country.
These analyses confirm that in periods of economic crisis people with mental health problems are at risk of experiencing exclusion from labour market. In addition, the impact is even worse within the group with low education and younger age. These findings emphasise the importance of specific interventions aimed at promoting labour market participation and reintegration for people with mental health problems.