Unemployment and its Effects on Society
Unemployment represents a situation where an individual is willing to work but has none. Unemployment has many effects on the society. These impacts can be mental, physical, and economic. Unemployed people usually tend to have less money to spend and are unable to buy some goods and services hence making businesses less profitable. Unemployment affects those unemployed and extends to the working class. Unemployment, especially among the youths, leads to low economic performance and macro-political demands. Individual well-being is majorly contributed by income, family relationships, and job characteristics. Therefore, unemployment among the working-age population has devastating effects on individuals. This research paper investigates how unemployment alienates the working and the non-working classes. It goes on discuss the physical and mental impact of unemployment on the society.
The Alienation of the Working and Non-Working Class
A sense of alienation has negative consequences for both an individual and the society. A high sense of alienation is present especially among the unemployed. This alienation makes them experience difficulties in interpersonal relations and their activeness in social groups. According to Philip Einsberg and Paul Lazersfeld (358), the longer an individual is unemployed, the lower the working motivation and tends to experience high degrees of apathy, doubts and lack of faith in themselves and others. Unemployment also hinders goal formulation and limit social contacts of an individual. The non-working class tends to develop a sense of hopelessness and despair hence neutralizing their motivation and interest to look for work. A focus on alienation is mainly measured using three key indicators namely a sense of powerlessness, a sense of isolation and a sense of political alienation.
The Impact on the Unemployed
The unemployed exhibit higher levels of sense of alienation compared to the employed. They tend to feel powerless and have a weak belief in the causality links between their actions and their effects hence lack initiative. Unemployment also leads to a low sense of self-efficacy accompanied by passivity and behavior uncertainty. The unemployed also tend to exhibit higher levels of political alienation. The unemployed tend to have a weaker sense of political subjectivity hence lack their impacts on the political environment. The unemployed show low levels of confidence in political affairs. They portray fatigue and weariness towards political scene compared to the working class (Turska-Kawa 343). The unemployed also have difficulties in anchoring themselves to people. Compare to the working group, the jobless experience isolation since they feel that they lack close people whom they can find support in difficulties. These individuals tend to think that they are less needed making it hard to identify people they can rely on.
Karl Marx's Perspective
Karl Marx, a German economist and revolutionary socialist believed that alienation is as a result of systematic effect of capitalism exploiting workers. According to Marx under the capitalist regime, workers lose control of their lives by having their control over their labor taken away. He views alienation in four different forms. The first form is the alienation from the product of work. Here he suggests that when an individual is employed, the individual can be seen to be working in an alienating situation simply to acquire their basic requirements. The other form greatly concerned with employment is alienation from others. Marx suggests that an employed worker is usually an alienated from other society members and becomes a subject to their employer. This breakdown in society usually tend to lead to a rise in hostility where an individual worker feels that they are benefitting their employers hence the rise in class divisions. He goes on stating that, "If man is related to the product of his labor, to his objectified labor, as to an alien, hostile, powerful object independent of him, he is so related that another alien, hostile, powerful man independent of him is the lord of this object. If he is unfree in the relation to his own activity, he is related to it as bonded activity, activity under the domination, coercion to, and yoke of another man" (Marx and Engels 57). Therefore, working class on the other hand tend to be alienated from their unemployed colleagues. They are much involved in their employment and societal breakdown. This societal breakdown promotes wealth class between the haves and the have not.
Physical and Mental Effects of Unemployment on the Working and Non-Working People
Securing a job nowadays is essential especially if you wish to live a comfortable life. Many people dream of having a successful career that will change their lives. Unfortunately, circumstances make some unemployed. In the business world, money help people acquire goods and access various services. Therefore, people with little or no money usually tend to feel helpless and dissatisfied. Unemployment greatly affects an individual's physical and mental health in some ways. Unemployed people, typically tend to be sad and distressed.
Psychological Impact
Individuals looking for employment for an extended period tend to be distressed and sad. Unemployed people usually tend to spend much resources looking for jobs but fail to secure any. Unemployment is a situation which is indeed not easy dealing with. Unemployment drives away joy and paves the way for sadness. Majority of the unemployed usually tend to rely on others for basic needs. This overreliance makes them sad and hinders their association with different individuals in the society. Secondly, the majority of the unemployed people tend to borrow loans for their upkeep. These loans in return stress them, and with time the stress causes depression. Depression is usually referred as a silent killer. It is tough dealing with depression, and people can harm themselves or others. Long-term unemployment is the scariest prospect in one's career. Unemployment among Americans has been severe to the extent that one out of every five Americans who have been unemployed is or has been treated for depression. These findings are based on a survey conducted on over 400, 000 Americans (Crabtree 1). Psychologists associate unemployment with a number of psychological ailments such as anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression. These psychological ailments in return cause poor health conditions, and it is advisable that people with depression seek medical checkup regularly. Also, loss of hope accompanying job seekers is detrimental to their quality of life and their ability to land good jobs. People unemployed for a lengthy period mark a drop in optimism, and this leads to a reduced labor force.
Access to Services and Substance Abuse
Unemployed people are likely to have problems accessing quality essential services such as education and healthcare. The reason is mainly due to high costs that may be incurred in these services. "Unemployed participants were at least 2.1 times more likely to delay health care due to cost as compared with employed participants" (Pharr, Moonie and Bungum 4). Employment provides financial security which is essential for physical and mental health. Lack of employment is associated with lower levels of physical and mental health. It also poses an economic burden on society which affects both the working and non-working people (McKee-Ryan 53). Secondly, most of the unemployed people lack health insurance and are less likely to access health services as their employed counterparts. Historically high unemployment rate significantly contribute to the high number of adults lacking health insurance (Driscoll and Lazarsfeld 7). On top of health insurance, copayments and deductibles are some of the cost-sharing expenses that fail to guarantee quality health services. Failure to access quality health in turn increase mortality rate and people living with chronic illnesses.
Crime and Substance Abuse
Prolonged unemployment may contribute to a pessimistic and cynical mindset where people turn to drug abuse to make them feel better and temporarily forget their problems. People who have lost hope usually tend to have a pessimistic life outlook and hardly view life from the brighter side. In 2013, Kentucky, Nevada, and Rhode Island recorded a high death number due to opioid overdoses. The regions also had the highest numbers of unemployment in the country (Khazan 1). A series of studies show that joblessness in these regions might have played a role in the increasing number of addictions. Unemployment also contributes to the growing crime rate. According to Matthew Melick the more people become unemployed for an extended period and lack a way of handling economic discomfort may turn to crime as a way of getting funds (pg. 32). These crimes pose a threat to the society and the country's economy at large. The working class also will not be able to conduct their day-to-day activities for fear of criminals. These drugs and criminal activities risk their lives and increase poverty levels.
Conclusion
In 2009, the United States experienced the highest level of unemployment since the 1980s. Unemployment remains to be a severe challenge affecting human life and economy at large. Those employed also feel insecure about losing their jobs in the future. The new graduates also suffer worse prospects of securing a job. Here the government and individuals must embrace on taking steps to increase productivity and minimize unemployment. An essential initiative includes creating more job opportunities by initiating different development projects that are well distributed. Secondly, the government should encourage people to not only rely on white collar jobs but also try to venture into various entrepreneurship and self-employment. Here the government can offer loans with low interests and affordable regulations that will motivate more people to venture into business activities. In conclusion, the alienation present between the working and the non-working class can only be addressed by minimizing the rate of unemployment present.
Works Cited
Crabtree, Steven. "In US, depression rates higher for long-term unemployed." Gallup, Inc., Washington, DC (2014).
Driscoll, Anne K., and Amy B. Bernstein. Health and access to care among employed and unemployed adults: the United States, 2009-2010. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, 2012.
Eisenberg, Philip, and Paul F. Lazarsfeld. "The psychological effects of unemployment." Psychological Bulletin 35.6 (1938): 358.
Khazan, Olga. "How Unemployment Feeds the Opioid Epidemic” The Atlantic (2014).
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844 and the Communist Manifesto. Prometheus Books, 2009.
McKee-Ryan, Frances, et al. "Psychological and physical well-being during unemployment: a meta-analytic study." Journal of applied psychology 90.1 (2005): 53.
Melick, Matthew D. "The relationship between crime and unemployment." The Park Place Economist 11.1 (2003): 30-36.
Pharr, Jennifer R., Sheniz Moonie, and Timothy J. Bungum. "The impact of unemployment on mental and physical health, access to health care and health risk behaviors." ISRN Public Health 2012 (2011).
Turska-Kawa, Agnieszka. "A sense of alienation of the unemployed on the example of the inhabitants of the Silesian Voivodeship." Journal of Psychology 31.2 (1996): 339-347.
