21 WORKING IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL

Adam Smith says, ‘Necessity makes it usual for almost every man to be [employed]. As it is ridiculous not to dress, so is it not to be employed. As a man of a civil profession seems awkward or despised in a camp or garrison, so does an idle man among men of business.’

In 1897 Emile Durkheim observed the link between unemployment and suicide. Durkheim, the father of sociology and the man credited with making sociology a science, made a massive contribution to the field that was in many ways a direct challenge to Smith’s capitalist vision as he sought to illustrate the social consequences of a free market economy.

DEFINING IDEA…

I don’t think that work ever really destroyed anybody. I think that lack of work destroys them a hell of a lot more.

~ KATHARINE HEPBURN, ACTRESS

Having a job is more than just about making money; it offers a psychological framework that provides more than just economic benefits. A job imposes a time structure, it involves contact and shared experiences outside the family, it provides individual and collective goals, plus opportunities for achievement and imposes status and social identity; it also enforces activity - all of which function as psychological supports.

Dr David Fryer, psychologist from Stirling University in Scotland, has spent years studying the psychological effects of unemployment and concludes there are many ‘worryingly consistent findings’. His studies showed that up to 40% of unemployed people suffered psychological distress.

The vast body of knowledge on the subject demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt that unemployment causes poor psychological health. Anxiety, depression, dissatisfaction, emotional strain, negative self-esteem, hopelessness regarding the future and other negative emotional states are all higher in the unemployed than in matched groups of employed workers. There is also evidence that physical health is adversely affected. However, this research does not extend to the intentionally unemployed, who happily live at the taxpayer’s expense. No early mornings, no tedious commute and no self-esteem for the ‘why bother?’ brigade. In the UK today, there are families where no one has worked for three generations.

In April 2008 public services think tank Reform (www.reform.co.uk) concluded successive governments have created a welfare-dependent culture that is a terrible legacy. A staggering six million Britons now live in homes where no one has a job and benefits are a way of life. Of those it was revealed that 20,000 British households make more than £30,000 a year in state benefits. It’s easy to see why the ‘why bother?’ attitude exists: it’s all too easy.

Reform also pointed out that inequality in the tax system meant that those receiving benefits who then find work face punitive rates of taxation: for every extra £ earned, up to 90% of their benefit is lost. Clearly counterproductive, this penalises those who genuinely want to work.

HERE’S AN IDEA FOR YOU…

If you find yourself out of work, volunteer! This may not solve your financial problems but it could help you through a difficult time. Keeping active and part of the community is not only good for self-esteem and morale, but it’s impressive to would-be employers and keeps you connected so you hear about any job opportunities that may arise.