As employers respond to new competitive pressures of global capitalism through layoffs and the casualization of labor, job insecurity affects a growing number of workers. It appears to harm mental health, but less is known about its effects on physical health and health behaviors and the mechanisms through which it may act. The prevailing individual-centered conceptualization of job insecurity as the perception of a threat to job continuity precludes systematic investigation of the social patterning of its health effects. Analysis of data from a 1994 Canadian national probability sample of adults determined that high levels of job insecurity lowered self-rated health and increased distress and the use of medications, but had no impact on heavy drinking. The findings support one possible mechanism of action whereby job insecurity reduces feelings of control over one's environment and opportunities for positive self-evaluation; these psychological experiences, in turn, have deleterious health consequences. There is little evidence of social patterning of this relationship by gender, education, household income, age, marital status, and social support at work.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
JacobsonD., A personological study of the job insecurity experience. Soc. Behav.2: 143–155, 1987.
2.
BluestoneV.HarrisonB.The Deindustrialization of America: Plant Closings, Community Abandonment, and the Dismantling of Basic Industry. Basic Books, New York, 1982.
3.
RinehartJ.HuxleyC.RobertsonD.Just Another Car Factory? Lean Production and Its Discontents. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y., 1997.
4.
ClarkC.Public Sector Downsizing: The Impact on Job Quality in Canada. Canadian Council on Social Development, Ottawa, 1997.
5.
FoxB.SugimanP.Flexible work, flexible workers: The restructuring of clerical work in a large telecommunications company. Studies Pol. Econ., 1999, in press.
6.
ReesG.FielderS., The services economy, subcontracting and the new employment relations: Contract catering and cleaning. Work Employ. Soc.6: 347–368, 1992.
7.
WhiteJ.JanzenR.Lipsig-MummeC.When Public Jobs Go Private: A Study of the Termination of Admail Workers by The Canada Post Corporation. Working Paper Series, No. 17. Centre for Research on Work and Society, York University, Toronto, 1997.
8.
BurmanP.Changes in the patterns of unemployment: The new realities of joblessness. In Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, No Jobs: The Transformation of Work in the 21st Century, edited by DuffyA.GlendayD.PupoN., pp. 190–216. Harcourt Brace, Toronto, 1997.
9.
GlendayD.Lost horizons, leisure shock: Good jobs, bad jobs, uncertain future. In Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, No Jobs: The Transformation of Work in the 21st Century, edited by DuffyA.GlendayD.PupoN., pp. 8–34. Harcourt Brace, Toronto, 1997.
10.
OsbergL.Structural change in North American labor markets. In Transition and Structural Change in the North American Labor Market, edited by AbbottM. G.BeachC. M.ChaykowskiR. P., pp. 350–356. IRC Press, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont., 1997.
11.
CromptonR.GallieD.PurcellK.Work, economic restructuring and social regulation. In Changing Forms of Employment, edited by CromptonR.GallieD.PurcellK., pp. 1–20. Routledge, New York, 1996.
12.
LeachB.WinsonA., Bringing “globalization” down to earth: Restructuring and labor in rural communities. Can. Rev. Sociol. Anthropol.32: 341–364, 1995.
13.
DracheD.GertlerM. S.The world economy and the nation-state: The new international order. In The New Era of Global Competition: State Policy and Market Power, edited by DracheD.GertlerM. S., pp. 3–25. McGill-Queen's University Press, Kingston, Ont., 1991.
14.
NakamuraA.CullenD.CraggJ.Trends in part-time and part-year employment, and in earnings. In Transition and Structural Change in the North American Labor Market, edited by AbbotM. G.BeachC. M.ChaykowskiR. P., pp. 111–125. IRC Press, Queens University, Kingston, Ont., 1997.
15.
IdeT. R.CordellA. J.The new tools: Implications for the future of work. In Shifting Time: Social Policy and the Future of Work, edited by YalnizyanA.IdeT. R.CordellA. J., pp. 73–133. Between the Lines, Toronto, 1994.
16.
Canadian Council on Social Development. Personal Security Index 1999. Ottawa, 1999.
17.
BurchellB.The effects of labor market position, job insecurity, and unemployment on psychological health. In Social Change and the Experience of Unemployment, edited by GallieD.MarshC.VolgerC., pp. 188–211. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994.
18.
HeaneyC. A.IsraelB. A.HouseJ. S., Chronic job insecurity among automobile workers: Effects on job satisfaction and health. Soc. Sci. Med.38: 1431–1437, 1994.
19.
KlandermansB.Van VuurenT.JacobsonD.Employees and job insecurity. In Job Insecurity: Coping with Jobs at Risk, edited by HartleyJ., pp. 40–64. Sage, Newbury Park, Calif., 1991.
20.
BarlingJ.KellowayE. K., Job insecurity and health: The moderating role of workplace control. Stress Med. 12: 253–259, 1996.
21.
DooleyD.RookK.CatalanoR., Job and non-job stressors and their moderators. J. Occup. Psychol.60: 115–132, 1987.
22.
FerrieJ. E., Health effects of anticipation of job change and non-employment: Longitudinal data from the Whitehall II Study. BMJ311: 1264–1269, 1995.
23.
IversenL.SabroeS.DamsgaardM. T., Hospital admissions before and after shipyard closure. BMJ299: 1073–1076, 1989.
24.
FerrieJ. E., The health effects of major organizational change and job insecurity. Soc. Sci. Med.46: 243–254, 1998.
25.
DekkerS. W. A.SchaufeliW. B., The effects of job insecurity on psychological health and withdrawal: A longitudinal study. Aust. Psychol.30: 57–63, 1995.
26.
SteffyB. D.LakerD. R., Workplace and personal stresses antecedent to employees' alcohol use. J. Soc. Behav. Pers.6(Special Issue), 115–126, 1991.
27.
ArnetzB. B., Neuroendocrine and immunologic effects of unemployment and job insecurity. Psychother. Psychosom.55: 76–80, 1991.
28.
KarasekR.TheorellT.Healthy Work. Basic Books, New York, 1990.
29.
EversonS. A., Interaction of workplace demands and cardiovascular reactivity in progression of carotid atherosclerosis: Population based study. BMJ314: 553–557, 1996.
30.
JohnsonJ. V., Long-term psychosocial work environment and cardiovascular mortality among Swedish men. Am. J. Public Health86: 324–331, 1996.
31.
NorthF. M., Psychosocial work environment and sickness absence among British civil servants: The Whitehall II study. Am. J. Public Health86: 332–340, 1996.
32.
SchnallP. L.LandsbergisP. A.BakerD., Job strain and cardiovascular disease. Annu. Rev. Public Health15: 381–411, 1994.
33.
KuhnertK. W.PalmerD. R., Job security, health, and the intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics of work. Group Organ. Stud.16: 178–192, 1991.
34.
LinkB. G.LennonM. C.DohrenwendB. P., Socioeconomic status and depression: The role of occupations involving direction, control, and planning. Am. J. Sociol.98: 1351–1387, 1993.
35.
TurnerR. J.RoszellP.Psychosocial resources and the stress process. In Stress and Mental Health: Contemporary Issues and Prospects for the Future, edited by AvisonW.GotlibI., pp. 179–212. Plenum, New York, 1994.
36.
MirowskyJ.RossC. E.Social Causes of Psychological Distress. Aldine de Gruyter, New York, 1989.
37.
SeemanM.LewisS., Powerlessness, health and mortality: A longitudinal study of older men and mature women. Soc. Sci. Med.41: 517–525, 1995.
38.
SeemanM.SeemanT. L., Health behavior and personal autonomy: A longitudinal study of the sense of control in illness. J. Health Soc. Behav.24: 144–160, 1983.
39.
SeemanM.SeemanA. Z.BudrosA., Powerlessness, work, and community: A longitudinal study of alienation and alcohol use. J. Health Soc. Behav.29: 185–198, 1988.
40.
GecasV., The social psychology of self-efficacy. Annu. Rev. Sociol.15: 291–316, 1989.
41.
RodinJ.TimkoC.Sense of control, aging, and health. In Aging, Health, and Behavior, edited by OryM. G.AbelesR. P.LipmanP. D., pp. 174–206. Sage, Newbury Park, Calif., 1992.
42.
GecasV.SeffM. A., Social class and self-esteem: Psychological centrality, compensation, and the relative effects of work and home. Soc. Psychol. Q.53: 165–173, 1990.
43.
RosenbergM.Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1965.
RosenbergM.Self-concept and psychological well-being in adolescence. In The Development of the Self, edited by LeahyR. L., pp. 295–346. Academic Press, Orlando, Fla., 1985.
46.
LuckP.HeissJ., Social determinants of self-esteem in adult males. Sociol. Soc. Res.57: 69–84, 1972.
47.
SchwalbeM. L.StaplesC. L., Class position, work experience, and health. Int. J. Health Serv. 16: 583–602, 1986.
48.
FryerD., Employment deprivation and personal agency during unemployment. Soc. Behav.1: 3–23, 1986.
49.
GecasV.SchwalbeM. L., Beyond the looking-glass self: Social structure and efficacy-based self-esteem. Soc. Psychol. Q.46: 77–88, 1983.
50.
WolterK. M.Introduction to Variance Estimation. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1985.
51.
IdlerE. L.BenyaminiY., Self-rated health and mortality: A review of twenty-seven community studies. J. Health Soc. Behav.38: 21–37, 1997.
52.
FarmerM. M.FerraroK. F., Distress and perceived health: Mechanisms of health decline. J. Health Soc. Behav.39: 298–311, 1997.
53.
RossC. E.Van WilligenM., Education and the subjective quality of life. J. Health Soc. Behav.38: 275–297, 1997.
54.
World Health Organization. Composite International Diagnostic Interview, Version 1.0. Geneva, Switzerland, 1990.
55.
KarasekR.Job Content Questionnaire. Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1985.
56.
LernerD. J., Job strain and health-related quality of life in a national sample. Am. J. Public Health84: 1580–1585, 1994.
57.
AlfredssonL.KarasekR.TheorellT., Myocardial infarction risk and psychosocial work environment characteristics: An analysis of the male Swedish work force. Soc. Sci. Med.16: 463–467, 1982.
58.
NorthF. M., Explaining socioeconomic differences in sickness absence: The Whitehall II Study. BMJ306: 361–366, 1993.
59.
PearlinL. I.SchoolerC., The structure of coping. J. Health Soc. Behav.19: 2–21, 1978.
60.
TheorellT., Decision latitude, job strain, and myocardial infarction: A study of working men in Stockholm. Am. J. Public Health88: 382–388, 1998.
61.
JohnsonJ. V.HallE. M., Job strain, work place social support, and cardiovascular disease: A cross-sectional study of a random sample of the Swedish working population. Am. J. Public Health78: 1336–1342, 1988.
62.
GreenbergE. S.GrunbergL., Work alienation and problem alcohol behavior. J. Health Soc. Behav.36: 83–102, 1995.
63.
KohnM., Position in the class structure and psychological functioning in the United States, Japan, and Poland. Am. J. Sociol.95: 964–1008, 1990.
64.
KohnM.SchoolerC., Job conditions and personality: A longitudinal assessment of their reciprocal effects. Am. J. Sociol.87: 1257–1285, 1982.
65.
LazarusR. S.FolkmanS.Stress, Appraisal and Coping. Springer, New York, 1984.
66.
HouseJ. S.MortimerJ., Social structure and the individual: Emerging themes and new directions. Soc. Psychol. Q.53: 71–80, 1990.
67.
BroadD.The casualization of the labor force. In Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, No Jobs: The Transformation of Work in the 21st Century, edited by DuffyA.GlendayD.PupoN., pp. 53–73. Harcourt Brace, Toronto, 1997.
