The Problem of Unemployment in the Social Doctrine of the Church and Economics

The paper analyses the problem of unemployment in view of the Church’s social doctrine confronted with the views of economic theory. The analysis indicates there are no important differences between the social doctrine of the Church and the theory of economics in the field of the essence of unemployment, but there are significant differences with regard to the consequences of unemployment. The emphasis in economics is put on financial and economic effects, whereas the Church’s social teaching underlines the social, psychological and human effects of the phenomenon. The analysis shows that the views on the reasons of unemployment and the remedies to reduce it are different in both sciences. According to economics, the reasons of unemployment are seen in the low flexibility of wages, in insufficient demand for goods or in the imperfect operation of the labour market. In the Church’s social doctrine, unemployment is regarded as a result of the model of society in which there are spontaneous market mechanisms, there is greed for profits and man is treated objectively. That is why remedies for unemployment are seen in the solidarity cooperation of all units which treat man subjectively.