Job insecurity and quality of life: A longitudinal study of job stress proliferation

Background and Objectives: More than 60% of workers in the United States report anxiety about losing their jobs within the next two years. The objectives of this study are to examine causal pathways linking job insecurity with quality of life and group differences in the effect of job insecurity on quality of life. The theoretical framework for this study is Leonard Pearlin’s stress process model, which suggests that differential exposure to stressors (e.g., job insecurity) and unequal access to coping resources (e.g., social support) create and sustain health disparities.

Methods: The relationship between job insecurity and quality of life is tested among a longitudinal sample of working adults in two waves (1995 and 2005) of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (N=2,184). Cross-lagged structural equation models are used to test mediation and moderation effects.

Results: Job insecurity is negatively associated with quality of life net of controls for personality, demographic, job, and health characteristics. Work-to-family spillover of stress significantly mediates the relationship between job insecurity and quality of life. Having at least a bachelor's degree and being white buffers the negative effect of job insecurity on quality of life.

Conclusions: Structural inequality predisposes certain groups to work in insecure jobs but also to have fewer resources for dealing with the consequences of job insecurity. As a result, policy and intervention strategies to address job insecurity must act on underlying causes of disparities such as educational and racial stratification in the workforce.