Perceived job insecurity and health: the Michigan recession and recovery study

Objective: To examine the association between perceived job insecurity in the next 12 months and current health with a sample representing working-aged employed adults in southeast Michigan in late 2009/early 2010 (n, 440 to 443).

Methods: Logistic regression was used to compare the health of participants who perceived job insecurity with those who did not, with adjustments for objective employment problems and social characteristics.

Results: Insecure workers were more likely to report fair or poor self-rated health (odds ratio [OR], 2.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14 to 6.32), symptoms suggesting major or minor depression (OR, 6.76; 95% CI, 3.34 to 13.3), and anxiety attacks (OR, 3.73; 95% CI, 1.40 to 9.97), even after correction for confounding factors.

Conclusion: This study provides evidence that perceived job insecurity may be linked to health even among those who avoided unemployment in the late-2000s recession.