By Pure Matters Researchers analyzed data from more than 7,000
people of working age in Australia and were not surprised to
find that those who were unemployed had poorer mental health
overall than those with jobs. However, the study authors also
found that the mental health of people with badly paid, poorly
supported or short-term jobs could be as bad as, or even worse,
than that of those who were jobless. People with the poorest
quality jobs experienced the largest decline in mental health
over time. The researchers found a direct association between
the number of unfavorable working conditions and mental health,
with each additional negative job aspect reducing a person's
mental health score. For unemployed people, the health benefits
of finding a job depended on the quality of the job. Getting a
high quality job after being unemployed boosted mental health by
an average of 3 points, but getting a poor quality job led to a
mental health decline of 5.6 points. The authors concluded that
very demanding jobs