UK Unemployment in the Great Recession

2010 ◽  
Vol 214 ◽  
pp. R3-R25 ◽  
Author(s):  
David N.F. Bell ◽  
David G. Blanchflower

This paper considers some of the implications of the increase in UK unemployment since the beginning of the Great Recession. The major finding is that the sharp increase in unemployment and decrease in employment is largely concentrated on the young. This has occurred at a time when the size of the youth cohort is large. As a response to a lack of jobs there has been a substantial increase in applications to university, although there has only been a small rise in the number of places available. Further we find evidence that the unemployed have particularly low levels of well-being, are depressed, have low levels of life satisfaction, have difficulties paying their bills and are especially likely to be in financial difficulties.

Author(s):  
John Ifcher ◽  
Amanda Cabacungan

Using data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we examine the impact of the Great Recession on subjective well-being (as measured by life satisfaction) and attempt to identify disparate effects by age. We find that those approaching retirement age (aged 55 to 64) experienced reduced life satisfaction after the recession, whereas younger working-aged adults did not. The disparate effects by age cannot be explained by income or unemployment trends, but may be explained by wealth effects. For example we find that the life satisfaction of those approaching retirement age, but not of younger working-age adults, is closely correlated with wealth indices (e.g. the Case–Shiller Housing Price Index and the S&P 500 Index).


2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752199075
Author(s):  
Emily F. Hittner ◽  
Claudia M. Haase

The present laboratory-based study investigated socioeconomic status (SES) as a moderator of the association between empathic accuracy and well-being among married couples from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Empathic accuracy was measured using a performance-based measure of empathic accuracy for one’s spouse’s negative emotions during a marital conflict conversation. Aspects of well-being included well-being (i.e., positive affect, life satisfaction), ill-being (i.e., negative affect, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms), and marital satisfaction. SES was measured using a composite score of income and education. Findings showed that SES moderated associations between empathic accuracy and well-being. Empathic accuracy was beneficial (for well-being and ill-being) or not harmful (for marital satisfaction) at low levels of SES. In contrast, empathic accuracy was not beneficial (for well-being and ill-being) or harmful (for marital satisfaction) at high levels of SES. Results were robust (controlled for age, gender, and race). Findings are discussed in light of interdependence vs. independence in low- vs. high-SES contexts and highlight the importance of socioeconomic context in determining whether empathic accuracy benefits well-being or not.


Author(s):  
James P. Ziliak

I examine trends in the material well-being of working-class households using data from the Current Population Survey in the two decades surrounding the Great Recession. In the years leading up to the Great Recession, average earnings, homeownership, and insurance coverage all fell, and absolute poverty and food insecurity accelerated. After-tax incomes were, for the most part, stagnant. The economic hemorrhaging either abated or reversed, however, in the decade after the Great Recession, especially for the least skilled and for households headed by a Hispanic person. This includes robust earnings growth, which led to declines in earnings inequality, absolute poverty, and food insecurity, coupled with increased insurance coverage and a modest rebound in after-tax incomes. As many of these recent advances likely stalled with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, I discuss various policy options.


Author(s):  
Clifton Judith ◽  
Fuentes Daniel Díaz ◽  
Clara García ◽  
Ana Lara Gómez

In the context of protracted low levels of investment following the 2008 Great Recession and, with the launch of the European Commission’s “Investment Plan for Europe,” scholars have argued a new dimension of European integration may be emerging: a “hidden investment state.” Interlocking institutions through European-level policy making, and increased and innovative loans, are interpreted as a means of setting up a multilevel infrastructure for further investment. This chapter investigates how Spain and its state-owned bank, the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), has navigated—and responded to—this changing scenario. We map evolving networks, portray ICO’s institutional trajectory, compile financial information on borrowing and loans, and categorize the financial instruments deployed, in order to assess whether ICO is becoming part of this investment state. We find that, whilst the ICO reacted vigorously to the Great Recession, since then, its activities have largely returned to pre-crisis normality. We conclude that developments around a hidden investment state in Spain are modest to date.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (15) ◽  
pp. 1279-1284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús Peiró-Palomino ◽  
Francesco Perugini ◽  
Andrés J Picazo-Tadeo

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