Being jobless no better than having a bad job!

Impact of a badly paid job can be as harmful as no job at all.

London: A new study has found that the impact on mental health of a badly paid, poorly supported, or short term job can be as harmful as no job at all.Researchers based their findings on seven waves of data from more than 7000 people of working age, drawn from a representative national household survey conducted every year in Australia (HILDA).

Respondents`` mental health was assessed using a validated inventory (MHI). And they were asked about their employment status. They were also asked if they felt they received a fair wage for the work they did. Not unexpectedly, those who were unemployed had poorer mental health, overall, than those in work, showed the results. The authors said that there is some evidence to show that employment is associated with better physical and mental health, and the mental health of those out of work tends to improve when they find a job. But after taking account of a range of factors with the potential to influence the results, such as educational attainment and marital status, the mental health of those who were jobless was comparable to, or often better than, that of people in work, but in poor quality jobs. Those in the poorest quality jobs experienced the sharpest decline in mental health over time. Getting a high quality job after being unemployed improved mental health by an average of 3 points, but getting a poor quality job was more detrimental to mental health than remaining unemployed, showing up as a loss of 5.6 points. ANI