Job Insecurity and Health in the United States

Sarah A. Burgard, University of Michigan
Jennie E. Brand, University of Michigan
James S. House, University of Michigan

Major labor market changes in the past several decades have resulted in increased job insecurity for many workers in the United States. There is some evidence that job insecurity has negative consequences for health, but previous research has failed to investigate possible reciprocal causal effects and has not examined potential alternate explanations for a relationship. Using nationally-representative longitudinal data with up to 15 years of follow-up, this analysis comprehensively examines the long-term effects of two dimensions of perceived job insecurity on subsequent health. We find that perceived job insecurity does have negative effects on subsequent self-rated health and depressive symptoms. However, health selection is an important part of the story. In some cases, actual involuntary job losses and acute health shocks act as predictors of job insecurity or as mediators of the relationship between job insecurity and subsequent health.