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Warning: Employment can be hazardous to your health

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Date published: 11/15/2009

By Bill Freehling

LOOKING for a silver lining to the cur- rent state of the U.S. economy? Here's one.

Death rates decline and people get healthier when economic conditions get worse. When the economy booms, health gets worse.

That's true both in the U.S. and abroad, Christopher J. Ruhm has shown with extensive research. Ruhm is an economics professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

I read about Ruhm's research in a recent column that Geoff Colvin wrote for Fortune magazine. Ruhm sent me a couple of his recent research papers, and the findings were interesting.

A 1 percentage-point increase in the jobless rate is typically associated with a roughly 0.4 percent reduction in mortality rates.

That's partly because unemployed people drive a lot less, which cuts down on traffic fatalities. Ruhm finds that U.S. traffic deaths decline 3 percent with each percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate. Higher unemployment also leads to fewer on-the-job accidents, and pollution decreases.

But there are also some lifestyle changes associated with job loss, Ruhm finds. People who aren't working sleep more and have more time for exercise. People also tend to drink and smoke less after losing their jobs, perhaps due in part to the high cost. They eat more home-cooked meals, which is usually healthier than going out.

As a result, obesity and heart attacks tend to decline, and people live longer.

One caveat: Ruhm makes it clear that his research deals with physical health. Mental health doesn't necessarily improve when the unemployment rate increases.

All of these improvements come despite the fact that people are less likely to seek medical care when they don't have a job. In his Fortune column, Colvin argues that health-care policy makers should take note and shift their focus from high medical costs to the unhealthy lifestyles of Americans.

Colvin also encourages companies to take heed, because an overworked employee is likely to rack up higher medical costs and be less productive. Among Colvin's recommendations for companies:

Take steps to encourage employees to exercise by offering subsidized gym memberships.

Offer financial incentives to employees in good health and penalize those who continue unhealthy habits such as smoking.

Lead by example: Managers and executives should be strongly encouraged to have healthy lifestyles.

It's doubtful that any of this will make people hope they lose their jobs so they can improve their health. But it is one silver lining that comes with the downturn.

Staff reporter Bill Freehling writes this weekly column on business, personal finance and investing. He can be reached at 540/374-5405 or
Email: bfreehling@freelancestar.com.

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Date published: 11/15/2009