Umeå University's logo

The negative effects of unemployment can go beyond the person who is directly affected. In this issue of Perspectives Demogràfiques we examine the relationship between unemployment of adult children and their parents’ mental health. The results show that parents with an unemployed child or children present a higher average of depressives ymptoms than their counterparts whose children are all employed. The magnitude of the effect varies amongcountries. Those that are more family centred with a less protective welfare state (in southern and eastern Europe) show the worst values. In Spain, the impact is similar for mothers and fathers, although this additional effect is notable for mothers since it implies their showing values that are higher than that at which the clinical manifestation of depression appears. The impact of unemployment of offspring is non-existent among parents with a higher level of education. Taken together, the results are an invitation toc ontemplate a multigenerational approach in the study of mental health in the elderly population.

Els efectes negatius de la desocupació poden transcendir a la persona que l’experimenta. En aquest númerode Perspectives Demogràfiques examinem la relació entre la desocupació dels fills adults i la salut mental dels seus pares. Els resultats confirmen que els paresamb algun fill desocupat presenten una mitjana desímptomes de depressió superior que els seus homòlegs amb tots els seus fills ocupats. La magnitud de l’efecteés diferent entre països, sent aquells amb un estat del benestar menys protector i centrat en la família (sud iest d’Europa) els que mostren pitjors valors. En el cas d’Espanya, l’impacte és similar per a mares i pares, encara que aquest augment addicional resulta dramàtic per a elles en implicar que superin el valor a partir delqual es produeix la manifestació clínica de la depressió. L’impacte de la desocupació dels fills és nul entre els progenitors amb major nivell educatiu. En el seu conjunt, els resultats conviden a considerar una aproximació multigeneracional en l’estudi de la salut mental de la població gran. 

Los efectos negativos del desempleo pueden transcender a la persona que lo experimenta. En estenúmero de Perspectives Demogràfiques examinamos la relación entre el desempleo de los hijos adultos y lasalud mental de sus padres. Los resultados confirmanque los padres con algún hijo desempleado presentanun mayor promedio de síntomas de depresión que sus homólogos con todos sus hijos ocupados. La magnituddel efecto es diferente entre países, siendo aquellos conun estado del bienestar menos protector y centradoen la familia (sur y este de Europa) los que muestran peores valores. En el caso de España, el impacto essimilar para madres y padres, aunque este aumentoadicional resulta dramático para ellas al implicarque superen el valor a partir de la cual se produce lamanifestación clínica de la depresión. El impacto del desempleo de los hijos es nulo entre los progenitores con mayor nivel educativo. En su conjunto, los resultados invitan a considerar una aproximación multigeneracional en el estudio de la salud mental de la población mayor.

BACKGROUND: Self-rated health, a subjective health outcome that summarizes an individual's health conditions in one indicator, is widely used in population health studies. However, despite its demonstrated ability as a predictor of mortality, we still do not full understand the relative importance of the specific health conditions that lead respondents to answer the way they do when asked to rate their overall health. Here, education, because of its ability to identify different social strata, can be an important factor in this self-rating process. The aim of this article is to explore possible differences in association pattern between self-rated health and functional health conditions (IADLs, ADLs), chronic diseases, and mental health (depression) among European women and men between the ages of 65 and 79 according to educational attainment (low, medium, and high).

METHODS: Classification trees (J48 algorithm), an established machine learning technique that has only recently started to be used in social sciences, are used to predict self-rated health outcomes. The data about the aforementioned health conditions among European women and men aged between 65 and 79 comes from the sixth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (n = 27,230).

RESULTS: It is confirmed the high ability to predict respondents' self-rated health by their reports related to their chronic diseases, IADLs, ADLs, and depression. However, in the case of women, these patterns are much more heterogeneous when the level of educational attainment is considered, whereas among men the pattern remains largely the same.

CONCLUSIONS: The same response to the self-rated health question may, in the case of women, represent different health profiles in terms of the health conditions that define it. As such, gendered health inequalities defined by education appear to be evident even in the process of evaluating one's own health status.

Objective: This paper provides the first comprehensive evidence on the effects of adult children’s unemploymenton parental mental health in Europe, exploring the potential moderators related to parents’ and children’s genderas well as the number and birth order of children’s siblings.

Background: The spillover–crossover model contextualizes the impact of experiences related to working life onthe health and wellbeing of family members. Parents’ and children’s gender is considered as potential moderatorbased on theories on gendered differences in how adverse life course events of significant others affect mentalhealth. Additionally, demographic theories point to the number and order of children determining parentalinvestments in offspring as well as parental expectations toward children’s achievements.

Method: We apply general structural equation modeling to data from the sixth wave of the Survey of Health,Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).

Results: Our results confirm the negative association between adult children’s unemployment and their parents’mental health. These crossover effects are found to be similar according to gender and also child birth order.

Conclusion: The intergenerational influence of adult children’s employment on their older parents is confirmed.However, our findings also challenge theoretical ideas suggesting that negative labor market experiences ofdaughters or firstborn children might be more detrimental for parents than those of other children.