Unemployment and Subjective Well-Being

This research project investigates the effects of unemployment on the subjective well-being of affected individuals and of people in their social environment. For this purpose, data from social surveys such as the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and comparable surveys from other countries, as well as time-use and well-being studies (such as the American Time Use Survey), are analyzed.
Previous work in this project has examined, for example, how participants in public employment programs feel compared to unemployed and regularly employed individuals; how entering retirement affects satisfaction and whether it matters if one was employed or unemployed just before retirement; and for which groups in the labor market employment protection legislation and restrictions on fixed-term contracts have positive or negative effects on well-being.
A particular focus of this research project is on the multidimensionality of well-being. In addition to cognitive measures, affective well-being indicators are also analyzed. Previous findings show that unemployment has a negative impact on cognitive well-being but not on affective well-being.
Further research will focus on analyzing in more detail the determinants of affective well-being and their interaction with experiences of unemployment.