In health and unemployment: well-being impacts of joblessness on oneself and partners

06/07/2026

AI Summary

Unemployment harms individual psychological well-being, with a significant direct association for men; for women significance appears only among those without children.
Male unemployment reduces female partners' psychological well-being, notably in childless couples; female unemployment shows no significant impact on male partners.
Using Spanish individual and household data (2006, 2011, 2017), the study applies an identification strategy to address endogeneity and assess direct and vicarious effects.

AI Summary

This paper examines the direct and indirect or vicarious (i.e., experienced through a partner's unemployment) relationship between unemployment and psychological well-being, shedding more light on why unemployment patterns may differ between women and men.

By sex, a significant association with unemployment was only observable in men, while among women, it became significant only when disaggregated by parental status, specifically among those without children.

A similar pattern emerges for the vicarious association: male unemployment is associated with worse psychological well-being among their female partners, especially in couples without children.

Basic summary

Int J Health Econ Manag. 2026 Jul 6;26(3):15. doi: 10.1007/s10754-026-09419-9.

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the direct and indirect or vicarious (i.e., experienced through a partner’s unemployment) relationship between unemployment and psychological well-being, shedding more light on why unemployment patterns may differ between women and men. To accomplish this, we tackle the potential endogeneity concern by employing an identification strategy designed to explore the associations between unemployment and mental health while reducing biased results. To our knowledge, this study is the first to employ this strategy to analyse both direct and indirect relationships. We utilize individual and household data from Spain across the years 2006, 2011, and 2017, representing the first study about this topic for this country. The results indicate a detrimental link between unemployment and personal well-being. By sex, a significant association with unemployment was only observable in men, while among women, it became significant only when disaggregated by parental status, specifically among those without children. A similar pattern emerges for the vicarious association: male unemployment is associated with worse psychological well-being among their female partners, especially in couples without children. By contrast, female unemployment is not significantly associated with the psychological well-being of their male partners.

PMID:42406174 | DOI:10.1007/s10754-026-09419-9

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