Job insecurity and health

As employers respond to new competitive pressures of global capitalism thro ugh layoffs and the casualization of labor,job insecurity affects a growing number of workers. It appears to harm mental health, but less is known abo ut its effects on physical health and health behaviors and the mechanisms t hrough which it may act. The prevailing individual-centered conceptualizati on of job insecurity as the perception of a threat to job continuity preclu des systematic investigation of the social patterning of its health effects . Analysis of data from a 1994 Canadian national probability sample of adul ts determined that high levels of job insecurity lowered self-rated health and increased distress and the use of medications, but had no impact on hea vy drinking. The findings support one possible mechanism of action whereby job insecurity reduces feelings of control over one's environment and oppor tunities for positive self-evaluation; these psychological experiences, in turn, have deleterious health consequences. There is little evidence of soc ial patterning of this relationship by gender, education, household income, age, marital status, and social support at work.