Unemployment is linked to mental and physical health, and increased outpatient hospital visits, researchers at Academia Sinica and the University of Missouri said in a collaborative study that was published in this month’s Volume 238 of the Economic Letters journal.
The study used Ministry of Health and Welfare data from 2002 to 2017 to track income and National Health Insurance activity.
The anonymized data covered 29,500 individuals dismissed from their jobs, 9,700 who lost their jobs because of a manufacturing plant closure and 332,700 with stable incomes.
Photo: Taipei Times
Those who lost their job showed an average decrease in income of 67 percent, with most unable to recover within a decade, the data showed.
Most academics believe that people who lose their job return to a similar income level in a short time, said Yang Tzu-ting (楊子霆), the lead author of the paper, titled “Long-term effects of job displacement on earnings and mental health: Evidence from population-wide administrative data.”
However, the research showed that such assumptions are probably wrong, as people were unable to recover from the loss of income for up to a decade, Yang said.
The research used data from people who lost their jobs due to closures or layoffs, as those situations mean age or ability were not factors, he said.
People who lost their job tended to face mental health issues in the long term, with the data showing that they reported 15 to 16 percent more outpatient visits, he said, adding that they also tended to incur 52 to 67 percent more in medical costs.
The effects of mental stress are more apparent among low-income families, men and elderly people, Yang said.
The government policy of paying 60 percent of the salary for people who lose their job for six to nine months, depending on their age, should be boosted, Yang said.
People without a job should attend vocational training to increase their chances of finding work, he added.
Chang Chia-ming (張家銘), a doctor in the department of psychiatry at Chang Gang Memorial Hospital’s Linkou branch, said that most unemployed people are in the so-called “sandwich generation,” those who have elderly parents and also provide for their own children.
If they are unable to find a job, they are susceptible to self-doubt or blaming others, Chang said, adding that people who have been unemployed for a long time and are facing emotional stress should seek professional psychiatric help.
Unemployed people should try a new vocation, such as delivery work, rather than remain jobless, Chang said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
RSS