Handbook on Unemployment and Society

The Handbook on Unemployment and Society explores how labor market institutions, policy regimes, and societal norms shape the experiences of unemployed people across various cultural contexts. It highlights how unemployment experiences are not usually driven by individual factors, but rather by broader structural forces. Contributing authors demonstrate how the disconnection from secure and dignified employment can severely undermine well-being, challenge a person’s sense of purpose, and put strain on families and close relationships. Chapters examine the lived experience of job insecurity on an international scale, uncovering patterns and key institutional dynamics and investigating factors such as gender and race that continue to situate individuals in more or less advantaged positions when they confront the loss of their livelihoods. The Handbook provides suggestions for policies that could improve life for unemployed people, as well as outlining ways in which individuals and wider societies might approach this issue with greater understanding and compassion. This interdisciplinary Handbook is a valuable resource for scholars and students in the fields of sociology, public policy, psychology, and economics. It is also greatly beneficial to those interested in understanding the social impacts of unemployment, such as policymakers and practitioners at support organizations.