Impact of Unemployment on Families

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Introduction

'You don't live when you are unemployed—you exist' (Jackson & Crooks 1993) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) defines Unemployment as a situation where people have lost their jobs and they have been in the search of a new job for the last four weeks. They are available for joining a new job immediately. BLS also counted those people as unemployed who are on layoffs for a temporary time period and are awaited to be called back by their organizations. Unemployment causes emotional and financial distress not only to unemployed person individually but also to his family members. More often, unemployment pertains to damage relationship between the partners. Families have to suffer the financial hardships arising from the non- availability of the job of head of the family. Health risks also increases due to the stress and decline in quality of food intake. The effects of job loss can radiate across the personal- social relationship of the jobless individual to his or her spouse, children or the significant other. (Price R. P., 1992)

Discussion

Unemployment has a devastating effect on families. The prolonged and futile search of a new job suffers the families and the children very much. Job displacement could have varied effect on the prosperity of the families. Their contented life turns in to ill- being due to hard knocks of the job loss. The economic security of the families gets affected by the unemployment. (Stevens, 1997) The lifestyle of the families is also affected due to the unemployment factor. Families have to cut down their expenditures on basic social needs like food, clothing and shelter etc.

Megan McArdle in his article published in The Daily brings up some of the frustrations encountered by the job less people who are willing to do a job and currently having no work for them. He cited data from the Pew Research Center to reveal the fact that how much unemployment affects the mind set of the unemployed person. The following graph portrays the findings of Megan McArdle on the impact of unemployment:

Economic Effects of Unemployment on Families

From the economic point of view, relentless and tenacious unemployment can be considered as a mark of a labor market's failure for not efficiently allocated and distributed labor resources. The consequences of unemployment for the economy can be very ruinous, especially when the unemployment rate exceeds 5 - 6 %. (Amadeo K, 2012) Job loss means an income loss and income loss means miserable consumer spending which could possibly be become a source of distress within the family and could limit the access of the family to the previous life style. Families could face the poverty as a result of the unemployment. And poverty has been ascertained to be linked up with the children's behavioral issues. (Shaw et al. 1994) Families do not only have to live hand to mouth but they could probably have to face financial strains and the loss of events like loss of personal property and homelessness etc.

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