SynthesisBMC public health2015
Is an insecure job better for health than having no job at all? A systematic review of studies investigating the health-related risks of both job insecurity and unemployment.
Synthesis in BMC public health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 93 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
93 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 227 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations Between Employment and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Reviews.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Precarious employment and migrant workers' mental health: a systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2022Pooled it
- The UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and diet, physical activity, and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from eight longitudinal population surveys.BMC medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Work environment risk factors causing day-to-day stress in occupational settings: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2022Pooled it
- How do employment conditions and psychosocial workplace exposures impact the mental health of young workers? A systematic review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2021Pooled it
- A Meta-Analysis of Job Insecurity and Employee Performance: Testing Temporal Aspects, Rating Source, Welfare Regime, and Union Density as Moderators.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- The impact of social assistance programs on population health: a systematic review of research in high-income countries.BMC public health · 2019Pooled it
- Furthering the Evidence of the Effectiveness of Employment Strategies for People with Mental Disorders in Europe: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Pooled it
- Job strain as a risk factor for clinical depression: systematic review and meta-analysis with additional individual participant data.Psychological medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Factors Associated With Job Precariousness and Material Deprivation, and Their Association With Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Suicide & life-threatening behavior · 2026Article
- Job Quality as an Upstream Social Determinant of Health in Middle Age.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Article
- Prevalence of poor self-rated health and common mental disorder among persistently precarious employed adults.Occupational medicine (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Risk perception and coping mechanisms by gender identity and education level during the COVID-19 syndemic in Spain.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Gender disparities in job flexibility, job security, psychological distress, work absenteeism, and work presenteeism among U.S. adults.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Short- and long-term health effects of job insecurity. Fixed effects panel analysis of German data.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2025Article
- Examination of Social Determinants of Health Characteristics Influencing Maternal Postpartum Symptom Experiences.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Article
- The impact of digital literacy in enhancing individuals' health in China.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Approach to Mental Health Through a Frequency Modulated Auditory Intervention: A Controlled and Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Social Determinants of Health and Healthcare Access among Latina/x/o Sexual and Gender Minority Adults.Research square · 2024Article
- Association Between Unemployment and Mental Disorders: A Narrative Update of the Literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Review
33 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThough previous research repeatedly found that being employed is better for health than having no job at all, evidence suggests that employment is not always beneficial for health. With especially job insecurity reflecting a contemporary health risk for the employed, a systematic review was performed to assess if insecure employment can be as detrimental for health as unemployment, and to determine whether these associations vary according to different health measures and among men and women.
methodsThe literature search was conducted in the databases Medline, Embase and PsychInfo. In order to allow a more accurate comparison between the two risk factors, studies were included if the data for job insecurity and unemployment was ascertained from the same sample, and contained a quantitative analysis for both exposures towards one (or more) health outcome(s).
resultsOut of 375 articles, in total, 13 studies were included in the systematic review. In 24 analyses contrasting the health-related associations between job insecurity and unemployment, 16 statistically significant associations were found for each exposure. According to the different health outcomes used, job insecurity and unemployment were strongly related to mental health, whereas job insecurity was more strongly associated with somatic symptoms. Unemployment showed stronger relations with worse general health and mortality. In 4 out of 16 gender-stratified analyses, significant associations between job insecurity/unemployment and health were found for men but not for women. Beyond that, associations were significant or insignificant in both gender groups.
conclusionsThough there were moderate differences across the health outcomes, overall, it was found that job insecurity can pose a comparable threat to health than unemployment. Policy interventions should therefore not only consider health risks posed by unemployment, but should also aim at the reduction of insecure employment.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.