The Effect of Labor Force Participation on Female Suicide Rates: An Analysis of Individual Data from 16 States

Abstract

Previous American-based research on the effect of womens' labor force participation (WPLF) on suicide has been based on highly aggregated data which makes it difficult to determine the actual, individual level suicide rate of employed versus unemployed women. The present study employs recent data which allow for the calculation of such individual-level suicide rates. Controls are incorporated for age and marital status. The results indicate that the suicide rates for employed, younger women are consistently lower than the suicide rates of women who are unemployed. The same tends to be true of middle-aged women. For elderly women, however, the relationship reverses with WPLF being associated with relatively high suicide rates. The findings on young and middle-aged women support a role accumulation model of WPLF, while the findings on elderly women support the theory of status integration.

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