What is the effect of unemployment on mortality?

Key points:- Previous research has demonstrated a link between unemployment and an increase in death rates.- The aim of this study was to test whether it is unemployment itself or other factors which cause this rise in mortality, such as poor health or low socio-economic status.- Background information on around 3,260 Scottish people was gathered from the 1991 and 2001 censuses. All of them were in employment in 1991, but half of the group were no longer in work at 2001.- The results found strong evidence of a direct link between unemployment and subsequent death rates in men