London, July 09: A rapid rise in unemployment can be linked with more heart attacks, suicides and homicides but a drop in the number of road deaths, according to a study published in the Lancet medical journal.
The study by the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine shows that a 3 percent rise in unemployment is associated with a 2.7 percent rise in heart attacks among men aged between 30 and 44 years old, an increase of 2.4 percent in homicides and the same rise in suicides in people under the age of 64.
Researchers analysed more than 50 causes of death in 26 European Union countries between 1970 and 2007 (from the World Health Organisation’s database) and compared the results to unemployment data (from International Labour Organisation).
They also examined the different levels of government social spending during the same period (using data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).
They took into account other factors that might affect rising death rates, such as population ageing and the different ways that countries monitor employment rates and causes of death.
The researchers found that if a government spent above 115 pound (USD190) per person per year in active labour market programmes, a 3 percent rise in unemployment would not affect suicide rates.
According to the available data from 2005, the UK government spends about 91 pound (USD 150) per head per year.
Researchers estimate that rising unemployment in the UK would result in at least 25 to 320 suicides and across the EU between 300 and 3,800 additional suicides as a direct result of the financial crisis
Lead author Dr David Stuckler, from the Department of Sociology at Oxford University, said: “Financial crisis causes economic hardship for many ordinary people, but it does not have to cost them their lives. Our study suggests that investments in active labour market programmes can both help the economy and prevent rises in deaths.”
Co-author Adam Coutts, also from Oxford University, said: “Gordon Brown has outlined an active jobseekers’ programme to target youths who have been unemployed for over 12 months. But what about the ever increasing number of older workers who have suddenly found themselves out of a job?
“Their health and ultimately their lives could depend on how they cope with being out of work and how quickly they are helped back into work.”
This study draws on a larger range of countries than in other previous studies, which offer mixed results. In Sweden, a previous study showed no effect of financial crises on health, but in Spain and in the US, there were found to be some negative effects and in some cases of improved health.
According to this Oxford-led research, the varying levels of government investment in social support programmes and efforts to bolster the labour market can largely explain the mixed picture across the different countries.
Co-author Professor Martin McKee, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “Suicides are just the tip of the iceberg.
-Agencies