Job-loss and family morbidity: a study of a factory closure

A controlled, longitudinal study was performed to investigate the consequences of unemployment on health. A significant increase in morbidity was demonstrated in the families of 129 workers (80 men and 49 women) made redundant when a factory manufacturing meat products closed. A significant increase was also found when the employees themselves were studied as a separate group. The decline in health began when, two years prior to job-loss, the management intimated that production might have to cease. In the four years after this news, consultation rates in the study group showed a highly significant increase. Both referrals to and attendances at hospital outpatient departments also increased significantly. The results suggest that the threat of redundancy is a stress which is equal to, if not greater than, the actual event. Extrapolation from these findings implies an increase in work-load and cost for the National Health Service directly attributable to a rising unemployment rate.