The Wider Well-Being Consequences of Own and Others’ Unemployment

Andrew Clark and Anthony Lepinteur
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Anthony Lepinteur: uni.lu - Université du Luxembourg = University of Luxembourg = Universität Luxemburg

PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) from HAL

Abstract: This paper reviews some of the extensive literature on the relationship between unemployment and subjective well-being. The lower life satisfaction of the unemployed is one of the most robust findings in quality-of-life analysis. However, the focus on the contemporaneous effect of own unemployment likely does not reflect the full societal well-being cost of job loss. For the individual, well-being losses continue for many years after their unemployment spell has ended. In addition, one person's unemployment spills over to the well-being of others. We in particular discuss how both of these spillovers – within individuals and between individuals may transit via the fear of future job loss – job insecurity. Taken together, these findings suggest that the full societal burden of unemployment is broader, deeper, and more enduring than suggested by simple contemporaneous estimates.

Date: 2026
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Published in Applied Research in Quality of Life, inPress, ⟨10.1007/s11482-026-10573-y⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-05591590

DOI: 10.1007/s11482-026-10573-y

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