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Author: Liu, Yujia
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Liu, Yujia
Rehkopf, David
Zhong, Jingwen
Rodriguez, Eunice
Job Loss, Unemployment Benefits, and Mental Health of Middle-Aged US Women
In: Enabling Gender Equality: Future Generations of the Global World, Research in Political Sociology 23. E. Rodriguez and B. Wejnert, eds., United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2015: 81-91
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Emerald
Keyword(s): Health, Mental/Psychological; Labor Force Participation; Stress; Unemployment Compensation

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Financial stress has been found to contribute to mental health deterioration associated with job loss. This study examined whether specific types of income support programs (e.g., unemployment benefits and welfare) reduce the negative impacts of job loss on middle-aged women's mental health in the United States. Two samples of women previously employed before their mental health assessments in their 40s and 50s were selected from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79). We conducted regression analysis to predict their mental health scores using employment and income support program status. The model also controlled for baseline health before job loss, socioeconomic status, and demographic and family life characteristics. Compared to their continuously employed counterparts, 50 +  women who had job loss without unemployment benefits had significantly worse mental health. However, those receiving unemployment benefits did not have significantly worse mental health. Unemployment benefits' ameliorating effect was not found in the 40 +  sample; and welfare programs did not have similar mental health effects. Our findings suggest that certain types of income support policies are beneficial to the mental health of certain cohorts of middle-aged women. For different groups of women, additional and alternative measures are needed to reduce the mental health damage of job loss.
Bibliography Citation
Liu, Yujia, David Rehkopf, Jingwen Zhong and Eunice Rodriguez. "Job Loss, Unemployment Benefits, and Mental Health of Middle-Aged US Women" In: Enabling Gender Equality: Future Generations of the Global World, Research in Political Sociology 23. E. Rodriguez and B. Wejnert, eds., United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2015: 81-91
2. Stewart, Leslie
Liu, Yujia
Rodriguez, Eunice
Maternal Unemployment and Childhood Overweight: Is There a Relationship?
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 66,7 (July 2012): 641-646.
Also: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21422027
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group, Ltd. - British Medical Journal Publishing Group
Keyword(s): Body Mass Index (BMI); Child Health; Maternal Employment; Obesity; Unemployment Compensation; Unemployment Duration; Weight; Welfare; Work Hours/Schedule

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Background: Previous studies have shown a positive association between maternal work hours and childhood overweight. However, it is unclear what role job instability plays in this relationship; therefore, this study examined whether children whose mothers experienced unemployment were more likely to have greater increases in body mass index (BMI) as compared with children whose mothers were stably employed. The effects of unemployment benefits, welfare and number of hours worked were also explored.

Methods: A multiple regression analysis was used to analyse changes in BMI over a 4-year period using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. In all, 4890 US children, aged 2–16 at baseline, were included in the analysis.

Results: As compared with children of mothers who were employed full-time and did not receive welfare, children of mothers who experienced unemployment and received unemployment benefits were not more likely to have significantly different changes in BMI. Yet children of mothers who experienced unemployment and did not receive unemployment benefits were significantly more likely to have greater increases in BMI. These results were also shown in models which controlled for height. This supports the conclusion that adiposity changes, and not simply growth-rate differences, account for the different BMI changes between groups.

Conclusion: Aspects of maternal employment other than number of work hours are associated with child BMI, including unemployment events and what type of support a mother receives during the time of unemployment. This has implications for policies that relate to benefits for mothers who lose their jobs.

Bibliography Citation
Stewart, Leslie, Yujia Liu and Eunice Rodriguez. "Maternal Unemployment and Childhood Overweight: Is There a Relationship?" Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 66,7 (July 2012): 641-646.