A person is defined as economically active if they are either in employment or they are actively seeking employment.
In their paper 'The Social Consequences of Unemployment', Alison McClelland and Fiona Macdonald of the Business Council of Australia state that the personal and social costs of unemployment include:
- Severe financial hardship and poverty
- Debt, homelessness and housing stress
- Family tensions and breakdown
- Boredom
- Alienation, increased social isolation and erosion of confidence and self-esteem
- Shame and stigma
- Atrophying of work skills and ill-health
McClelland and Macdonald state that unemployment falls disproportionately on the disadvantaged groups in society, such as low income earners, recently arrived migrants and ethnic minority groups.
One of the greatest and most important social consequence that many unemployed people are forced to deal with is poverty. A lack of substantial or steady income means that households commonly struggle to maintain a decent standard of housing, diet, clothing and health care.
In terms of illness, unemployed people can become increasingly susceptible to physical problems such as diabetes, bronchitis, pneumonia or influenza, but also mental health problems such as depression.
Being in a household with an unemployed parent can have a distressing impact on the children in a family. It can often prove to have negative consequences on the child's educational, employment and social future.
There is also evidence to suggest that there is significant social division and tension between employed people and families as opposed to unemployed people and families. It is often the case that particular areas of a city can become particularly hindered by unemployment, for instance in areas that were once reliant on an industry which is no longer prominent.
In their paper 'The Social Consequences of Unemployment', Alison McClelland and Fiona Macdonald of the Business Council of Australia state that the personal and social costs of unemployment include:
- Severe financial hardship and poverty
- Debt, homelessness and housing stress
- Family tensions and breakdown
- Boredom
- Alienation, increased social isolation and erosion of confidence and self-esteem
- Shame and stigma
- Atrophying of work skills and ill-health
McClelland and Macdonald state that unemployment falls disproportionately on the disadvantaged groups in society, such as low income earners, recently arrived migrants and ethnic minority groups.
One of the greatest and most important social consequence that many unemployed people are forced to deal with is poverty. A lack of substantial or steady income means that households commonly struggle to maintain a decent standard of housing, diet, clothing and health care.
In terms of illness, unemployed people can become increasingly susceptible to physical problems such as diabetes, bronchitis, pneumonia or influenza, but also mental health problems such as depression.
Being in a household with an unemployed parent can have a distressing impact on the children in a family. It can often prove to have negative consequences on the child's educational, employment and social future.
There is also evidence to suggest that there is significant social division and tension between employed people and families as opposed to unemployed people and families. It is often the case that particular areas of a city can become particularly hindered by unemployment, for instance in areas that were once reliant on an industry which is no longer prominent.