The Emotional Toll of Long-term Unemployment: Examining the Interaction Effects of Gender and Marital Status

• In Event: 328 - Regular Session: Gender and Work: Structure, Culture, and Emotions

Abstract

Although the Great Recession officially ended over 6 years ago the rate of long-term unemployment remains at levels unseen in over 6 decades. Prior research has shown that long-term unemployment generates a severe and negative emotional toll which in turn is associated with a variety of social ills. Using a mixed methods approach we draw on quantitative survey data and in-depth interviews to examine how the negative emotional toll of long-term unemployment is shaped by the interaction of gender and marital status. Our in-depth interviews reveal a pattern with more marital tensions that exacerbate the emotional toll of unemployment reported by married men than married women. Our analysis of survey data show that overall marriages are helpful to the wellbeing of both unemployed men and women. Yet, for married men but not for married women, the analysis revealed that the significance of the benefits derived from marriage disappears once we control for household income.

Authors

• Gokce Basbug, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Ofer Sharone, University of Massachusetts Amherst