Sociology Unemployment

I am interested in, “Unemployment and the effect on the family structure”, because it hits home with being somewhat close to retirement eligible and not having a very clear outlook on what could be in-store in the civilian job market in the near future. The national unemployment rate has not significantly improved in some time and as we all know things are not getting cheaper, such as, food, gas and many other consumer goods which are a necessity. This has caused stress on many families and then, add in the economic ramifications of sequestration which has the potential to cause a government shutdown, which could cause my worst fears to happen even sooner.

The economy is now out of free fall, but the impact of recent economic losses on families will continue for many years. 18.5 percent of households reported that they had not always had enough money to buy the food they needed during the year. A poll of unemployed adults found that more than half of the unemployed had cut back on medical treatments or doctors' visits.

Mortality rates of men who had lost their jobs in earlier recessions, found a 15 to 20 percent increase in death rates during the next 20 years. Economic insecurity is the number one predictor of overall health problems, more frequent signs of depression, sleep difficulties, and stress among employed workers. 55 percent of laid-off workers reported that their unemployment triggered insomnia.

Men have born the brunt of the recession so far, accounting for more than three-quarters of job losses. Men are more likely than women to experience job or income loss as a fundamental threat to their identity. Unemployed men are more likely to exhibit hostility towards their partners than unemployed women. Female partners of unemployed men have higher level of depressive and anxious symptoms than do male partners of unemployed women.

The unemployment rate of single mothers is now 68 percent higher than at the start of the recession. Twenty...