Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, the study examines whether the impact of unemployment on the risk of becoming socially isolated is different for women and men and whether it can be traced back to financial straits. An isolating effect of unemployment is found only with regard to men, to long-term unemployment, and to social isolation in terms of scarce contact to friends and family. There is no such effect with regard to women, to short-time unemployment, and to social isolation in terms of a non-participation in civic associations. It is also found that the isolating impact of unemployment is only to a small extent attributable to the financial situation of the unemployed.
AboimS (2010) Gender cultures and the division of labour in contemporary Europe: a cross-national perspective. The Sociological Review58(2): 171–196.
2.
AllisonPD (2005) Fixed Effects Regression Models for Longitudinal Data. Cary, NC: SAS Institute.
3.
AndreßH-JGolschKSchmidtAW (2013) Applied Panel Data Analysis for Economic and Social Surveys. Heidelberg: Springer.
4.
AtkinsonABMarlierE (2010) Income and Living Conditions in Europe. Luxembourg: European Union.
5.
BaronRMKennyDA (1986) The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research – conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology51(6): 1173–1182.
6.
BöhnkePLinkS (2017) Poverty and the dynamics of social networks: an analysis of German panel data. European Sociological Review33(4): 615–632.
7.
BrandJE (2015) The far-reaching impact of job loss and unemployment. Annual Review of Sociology41(1): 359–375.
8.
BrandJEBurgardSA (2008) Job displacement and social participation over the life course: findings for a cohort of joiners. Social Forces87(1): 211–242.
9.
BrandtM (2006) Soziale Kontakte als Weg aus der Erwerbslosigkeit. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie Und Sozialpsychologie58(3): 468–488.
ChamberlainG (1980) Analysis of covariance with qualitative data. The Review of Economic Studies47(1): 225–238.
12.
CourtinEKnappM (2017) Social isolation, loneliness and health in old age: a scoping review. Health & Social Care in the Community25(3): 799–812.
13.
Deutsche Bundesregierung (2018) Ein neuer Aufbruch für Europa. Eine neue Dynamik für Deutschland. Ein neuer Zusammenhalt für unser Land. Koalitionsvertrag zwischen CDU, CSU und SPD. 19. Legislaturperiode. Berlin.
14.
DieckhoffMGashV (2015) Unemployed and alone? Unemployment and social participation in Europe. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy35(1/2): 67–90.
15.
DiewaldM (2003) Kapital oder Kompensation? Erwerbsbiographien von Männern und die sozialen Beziehungen zu Verwandten und Freunden. Berliner Journal für Soziologie13(2): 213–238.
16.
EckhardJ (2018a) Indicators of social isolation. Social Indicators Research139(3): 963–988.
17.
EckhardJ (2018b) Does poverty increase the risk of social isolation?The Sociological Quarterly59(2): 338–359.
18.
EckhardJ (2020) Social isolation as a consequence of transitions in partner relationships. How formations and endings of partner relationships affect the risk of social disconnectedness. Journal of Family Research. Epub ahead of print 27 April. DOI: 10.20377/jfr-367.
19.
FestingerL (1954) A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations7(2): 117–140.
20.
GallieDPaugamSJacobsS (2003) Unemployment, poverty and social isolation. Is there a vicious circle of social exclusion?European Societies5(1): 1–32.
21.
GiesselmannMGoebelJ (2013) Soziale Ungleichheit in Deutschland in der Längsschnittperspektive. Befunde zur Armutsproblematik auf Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP). Analyse & Kritik35(2): 277–302.
22.
GoebelJGrabkaMMLiebigSKrohMRichterDSchröderC, et al (2019) The German socio-economic panel. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik / Journal of Economics and Statistics239(2): 345–360.
23.
HakimC (1995) Five feminist myths about women’s employment. The British Journal of Sociology46(3): 429–455.
24.
HeyneS (2012) Arm durch Arbeitslosigkeit? Einkommensverluste und Armut im Kontext der Hartz-Reformen. Zeitschrift für Soziologie41(6): 418–434.
25.
HM Government (2018) A Connected Society: A Strategy for Tackling Loneliness – Laying the Foundations for Change. London: HM Government.
26.
JahodaM (1982) Employment and Unemployment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
27.
JahodaMLazarsfeldPFZeiselH (1933) Die Arbeitslosen von Marienthal. Ein soziographischer Versuch über die Wirkungen langandauernder Arbeitslosigkeit. Leipzig: Hirzel.
28.
JulkunenI (2002) Social and material deprivation among unemployed youth in Northern Europe. Social Policy & Administration36(3): 235–253.
29.
KempsonE (1996) Life on a Low Income. York: Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
30.
KlinenbergE (2018) Is loneliness a health epidemic?New York Times, 9February, SR8.
31.
KomarovskyM (1940) The Unemployed Man and His Family. New York: Altamira.
32.
KronauerM (1998) ‘Social exclusion’ and ‘underclass’ – new concepts for the analysis of poverty. In: AndreßH-J (ed.) Poverty Research in a Comparative Perspective. Aldershot: Ashgate, 51–75.
33.
LeanaCRFeldmanDC (1991) Gender differences in responses to unemployment. Journal of Vocational Behavior38(1): 65–77.
34.
LewisJ (1992) Gender and the development of welfare regimes. Journal of European Social Policy2(3): 159–173.
35.
MachielseA (2006) Theories on social contacts and social isolation. In: HortulanusRMachielseAMeeuwesenL (eds) Social Isolation in Modern Society. London and New York: Routledge, 13–36.
36.
McPhersonMSmith-LovinLBrashearsME (2006) Social isolation in America: changes in core discussion networks over two decades. American Sociological Review71(3): 353–375.
37.
MoodCJonssonJO (2016) The social consequences of poverty: an empirical test on longitudinal data. Social Indicators Research127(2): 633–652.
38.
ParigiPHensonW (2014) Social isolation in America. Annual Review of Sociology40(1): 153–171.
39.
PaugamSRussellH (2000) The effects of employment precarity and unemployment on social isolation. In: GallieDPaugamS (eds) Welfare Regimes and the Experience of Unemployment in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 243–264.
Pfau-EffingerB (2004) Socio-historical paths of the male Breadwinner Model – an explanation of cross-national differences. The British Journal of Sociology55(3): 377–399.
42.
Pfau-EffingerB (2012) Women’s employment in the institutional and cultural context. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy32(9/10): 530–543.
43.
RotoloTWilsonJ (2003) Work histories and voluntary association memberships. Sociological Forum18(4): 603–619.
44.
RussellH (1999) Friends in low places: gender, unemployment and sociability. Work, Employment and Society1(2): 205–224.
45.
ShankarAMcMunnADemakakosPHamerMSteptoeA (2017) Social isolation and loneliness: prospective associations with functional status in older adults. Health Psychology36(2): 179–187.
46.
SilverH (1995) Reconceptualizing social disadvantage: three paradigms of social exclusion. In: RodgersGGoreCFigueiredoJ (eds) Social Exclusion: Rhetoric, Reality, Responses. Geneva: International Institute for Labour Studies, 57–80.
47.
StewardMMakwarimbaJEReutterLIVeenstraGRaphaelDLoveR (2009) Poverty, sense of belonging and experiences of social isolation. Journal of Poverty13(2): 173–195.
48.
StrandhMHammarströmANilssonKNordenmarkMRussellH (2013) Unemployment, gender and mental health: the role of the gender regime. Sociology of Health & Illness35(5): 649–665.
49.
ValtortaNKKanaanMGilbodySHanrattyB (2016) Loneliness, social isolation and social relationships: what are we measuring?BMJ Open6(4): e010799.
50.
WooldrigdeJM (2002) Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. Cambridge: MIT Press.
51.
ZavaletaDSamuelKMillsCT (2017) Measures of social isolation. Social Indicators Research131(1): 367–391.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
