Current smoking among the job-seeking unemployed in California

Employers are increasingly adopting non-nicotine hiring practices, and with high unemployment rates (11.3% of the Californian labor force in Nov 2011), employers can be more selective in their hiring and retention decisions. Research has not examined the association between tobacco use and employability. Cross-sectional data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey on 32,091 noninstitutionalized adults age 20-65 were used to analyze tobacco use by employability and tobacco use as a predictor of unemployment. The comparison groups were the employed (part- or full-time) and non-job-seeking unemployed (i.e., students, retired, homemakers, disabled). In examining associations, we controlled for demographic (gender, age, race/ethnicity, marital status) and behavioral risk (overweight status, binge drinking) covariates. The job-seeking unemployed made up 9.1% of the sample. In the unadjusted model, the job-seeking unemployed had the highest smoking prevalence (19.6%), followed by the non-job-seeking unemployed (15.1%), and the employed (14.2%). In the multivariate model, both the job-seeking (adjusted odds ratios [AOR]=1.31, 95% CI=1.02-1.68) and non-job-seeking (AOR=1.41, 95% CI=1.20-1.66) unemployed were significantly more likely to smoke cigarettes than employed individuals. In a multivariate multinomial logistic regression model, current (AOR=1.35, 95% CI=1.04-1.75) but not former smoking status (AOR=1.05, 95% CI=0.78-1.41) was a significant predictor of being unemployed and job-seeking. By employment status, the job-seeking unemployed have elevated smoking prevalence, and controlling for relevant covariates, tobacco use is a significant predictor of unemployment status. The current findings support the exploration of employment service agencies as a setting for the delivery of tobacco treatment services.