The Effect of Inequality on the Association between Involuntary Job Loss and Depressive Symptoms

Edward Berchick, Princeton University
William Gallo, Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
Vida Maralani, Yale University
Stanislav Kasl, Yale University

Involuntary job loss is a national concern given current economic situations. Although socioeconomic status (SES) has been to shown to be associated with susceptibility to job loss as well as with health, the ways in which SES may moderate the job loss-health association remain largely unexplored. Using data from 1,510 participants in the Americans’ Changing Lives (ACL) study, we estimate interactions between job loss and five aspects of SES—education, income, occupational prestige, wealth, and homeownership—for depressive symptoms. We find evidence to indicate that the effect of job loss on mental health depends on educational attainment and occupational prestige, although in opposite directions. Higher education and lower prestige appear to be buffer the health impacts of job loss. These results have a number of implications for understanding the role of larger inequality in shaping the health effects of job loss.