Women and Unemployment, 1986-1987

Women and Unemployment was a study designed to study the effects of unemployment on women. The researcher examined the psychological and physical consequences of job loss for women. Specifically, the study focused on what working means to women, the effects of women's unemployment on family life and children, the effects of job loss on women's health, the meaning of work in women's lives, how the women lost their jobs, the support they had around their job loss, and, if applicable, how they found new employment. In presenting and exploring the varied and unique consequences of unemployment for women, the study also aimed to dispel the belief that job loss has identical effects for men and women. The sample consisted of 124 women from a large northeastern metropolitan area who had experienced involuntary unemployment for at least six weeks within the past two years. The sample was cross-sectional in terms of age, ethnicity, socio-economic status, educational level and occupation. The sample of women completing the initial survey questionnaires was 77.6% Caucasian, 13.8% African-American, 2.6% Latina, and 0.9% Asian-American. The majority of the women were mothers.<br /> An initial survey questionnaire was given to assess background information, previous work history and cursory unemployment experience. Personal interviews were conducted with a subsample of 30 women selected to represent the larger population of unemployed women in order to obtain detailed information regarding the unemployment experience. The interview consisted of sections on background information, work history, the job loss, health and social support, the job search, and the woman's future outlook. Interviewed participants also completed a booklet with the CES-D scale to measure depression and the Anxiety Scale of the MAACL as a measure of anxiety. The Murray Archive holds additional analogue materials for this study (paper questionnaires for all subjects as well as interview schedules, respondent booklets, transcripts and audiotapes of interviews). If you would like to access this material, please apply to use the data