Employment quality, past unemployment, mental health and wellbeing in the UK

BACKGROUND: Low employment quality (EQ) has been associated with adverse mental health. Past unemployment may also be linked to reduced mental health and wellbeing later on and may influence subsequent EQ. However, understanding of the role (past) unemployment history may play in the association of (present) EQ and mental health and well-being is limited. This paper aims to fill this gap. METHODS: We drew on a subsample of employees aged 25 to 60 from wave 4 of the UK Household Longitudinal Study. We applied Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to derive typologies of EQ within 6 dimensions. We fitted logistic regressions to assess the links between EQ, lifetime unemployment, and mental well-being and psychological distress (measured using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, respectively). RESULTS: The LCA yielded an optimal solution of 6 EQ clusters, with some similarities to previous typologies. Men and women in precarious employment forms characterised by unfavourable employment conditions including lower labour income and potential underemployment reported higher odds for low mental well-being (men OR:1.54, 95% CI:1.06-2.24; women OR:1.37, 95% CI:1.04-1.81), and so did women in precarious forms characterised by, amongst others, lower labour income and more prevalent long and irregular hours (OR:1.44, 95% CI:1.08-1.93), compared to those in the most standard and favourable arrangement. Some further well-being inequalities were observed across the EQ spectrum. Simultaneously, prior unemployment (of length) was also linked to reduced well-being among both genders, with no dose-response relationship. Precarious clusters were, however, not linked to increased odds of psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: Men and women in low EQ or with prior unemployment experience had higher odds of low mental well-being in the UK. Our analysis shows the need to consider employment trajectories regarding mental health outcomes. KEY MESSAGES: • Low multidimensional EQ and past unemployment experience of length are both related to reduced mental well-being in the UK. • No links were observed with regards to low employment quality and elevated psychological distress.