Age, gender, psychological wellbeing and the impact of losing the latent and manifest benefits of employment in unemployed people

Abstract

Three hundred and eighty-six unemployed adults were administered surveys measuring wellbeing, the latent (social support, activity, collective purpose, time structure, status) and manifest (financial strain)benefits of employment, and neuroticism. Participants were divided into three groups: 142 “young” (18–24.9 years), 125 “middle-aged” (25–34.9) and 119 “mature-aged” unemployed (aged 35–55 years). It was hypothesised that age and gender effects would be found for wellbeing, that these would be associated with differences in access to the latent and manifest benefits of employment, and the manifest and latent benefits would interact in predicting wellbeing. No gender main effects were found. The young unemployed reported higher wellbeing, more social support, and higher status than the mature group, and less time structure and higher status than the middle-aged group. No differences were identified between the middle-aged and mature unemployed. Neuroticism was the most important individual predictor of wellbeing for all age groups, but particularly for the mature group. Financial strain was a significant predictor in the young and middle-aged groups, and the social support by financial strain interaction was a significant predictor in the young group. Results are discussed in the context of specific models of unemployment and wellbeing.