Year: 2014
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: AIM: To examine whether late-career job loss increased depression among older workers approaching retirement in the USA and Europe. METHODS: Longitudinal data came from the Health and Retirement Survey and the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe. Workers aged 50 to 64 years in 13 European countries and the USA were assessed biennially from 2006 to 2010. Individual fixed effects models were used to test the effect of job loss on depressive symptoms, controlling for age, sex, physical health, initial wealth and socio-demographic factors. RESULTS: Job loss was associated with a 4.78% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.823% to 8.74%] increase in depressive symptoms in the USA compared with a 3.35% (95% CI: 0.486% to 6.22%) increase in Europe. Job loss due to a worker's unexpected firm closure increased depression scores in both the USA (beta=28.2%, 95% CI: 8.55% to 47.8%) and Europe (beta=7.50%, 95% CI: 1.25% to 13.70%), but pooled models suggested significantly stronger effects for US workers (P<0.001). American workers who were poorer before the recession experienced significantly larger increases in depressive symptoms compared with wealthier US workers (beta for interaction=-0.054, 95% CI: -0.082 to -0.025), whereas pre-existing wealth did not moderate the impact of job loss among European workers. CONCLUSIONS: Job loss is associated with increased depressive symptoms in the USA and Europe, but effects of job loss due to plant closure are stronger for American workers. Wealth mitigates the impact of job loss on depression in the USA more than in Europe.
DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyu048
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: Multinational Advancement of Research Infrastructures on Ageing, Economic Cycles, Employment and Health: Disentangling Causal Pathways in a Cross-National Study, G1330667123, G1428006373, G1518383709, G1565542540, G1750703574, G1778268290, G1781191216, G1820526844, G2077389594, G2100540203, From understanding to reducing health disparities: a model-based evaluation, G2343781458, G24207250, G2465118858, G2881429984, G3166864496, G323020161, G3361099077, G3440788226, G3457581384, G3687180791, HEALTH AND ECONOMIC STATUS IN OLDER POPULATIONS, RAND Center for the Study of Aging, Upgrading the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe – preparatory phase, Social welfare and public health: analysing quasi-natural experiments from the 2007 recession., G4569152855, G4607009072, G4847675667, Social protection, work and family strain: disadvantage effects in US and Europe, G5618942462, G5745945343, G6767647029, G6978085111, G751768989, DEVELOPING AN ISRAELI VERSION OF THE HRS/SHARE PROJECT, Longitudinal Enhancement and Access imProvement of the SHARE infrastructure, G8957671751, G9000113159, Understanding and Improving Healthcare Decision-Making and Outcomes for People Living with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, Health and Retirement Study: Yrs 35-40, G93458789, G938892667, G939349750
OpenAlex ID: W2116936605