Long-run trends in workers' beliefs about their own job security: Evidencefrom the general social survey

In recent years, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, former U.S. Secre tary of Labor Robert Reich, and many journalists have argued that workers a re more anxious about losing their jobs than they were in the past. I use t he 1977-96 General Social Survey to document trends in workers' beliefs abo ut their own job security. During the 1990s, workers have been more pessimi stic about losing their jobs in the next 12 months than workers were during the 1980s. Workers have also been more concerned about suffering future jo b loss that would have resulted in a decline in earnings or a spell of unem ployment.