Unemployment linked to stark disparities in self-reported health, 10 year analysis finds

Unemployed people are far more likely to stop perceiving themselves as healthy over a decade, an analysis suggests.1The Health Foundation thinktank compared data from the 2011 and 2021 censuses, examining how 34.2 million respondents viewed their health.2 They found those who were unemployed, in rented accommodation, or who lived in deprived areas in 2011 were far more likely to report being in poor health 10 years later.Unemployment linked with worsening self-reported healthThe analysis found those not working in 2011 because of long term sickness or disability were 2.5 times more likely to report no longer being in good health in 2021.But even for adults able to work and seeking employment, the risk of tipping into poor health was also much higher than their employed peers.Women who were unemployed in 2011 were 67% more likely than employed women not to report good health in 2021. For men the difference was even...