Depression and Employment

In a recent report of the Gallup-Healthways Well-being Index, a survey conducted by landline or cell phone interview between January 1 and July 25, 2013 of a random sample of 101,195 American adults who have depression, Alyssa Brown and Kyley McGeeney say that "being unemployed, out of the workforce, or working part-time but wanting to work full-time are strong indicators of depression."

Respondents who report being out of the workforce are the most likely to be depressed (16.6%), followed by those who report being unemployed (11.4%) and part-time workers who prefer full-time work (10.6%). 

Read more: 
http://www.gallup.com/poll/164090/employment-linked-depression-free.aspx
http://www.gallup.com/poll/wellbeing.aspx?ref=logo

Underemployment Continues to Fall, But Is Still Double Pre-Recession Level

With the jobs numbers released this past Friday, highlighting Gallup's underemployment statistics provides another look into the employment situation in America.  Gallup defines underemployed workers as those who work part-time but desire a full-time job, along with Americans who are simply unemployed. This figure is an important supplement to the BLS' jobs numbers, as it illustrates the lingering frustration within the American economy that is not quite as apparent in Friday's optimistic report.  While underemployment has tailed off in recent months, it's still well above levels seen before the recession.  16.5% of workers are underemployed, down from over 20% in 2010 and 18.1% this time one year ago.  Before the housing bubble burst and drove the economy into a downward spiral unseen since the Great Depression, underemployment had sunk to below 8%, but as companies laid off workers and scaled back domestic operations, Americans were left struggling to find full-time employment, prompting a spike in unemployment and underemployment.  Still, though, the 16.5% underemployment rate is the lowest since the start of the recession, and it continues to steadily drop as the year progresses.  

Over a Third of American Companies are Hiring

Gallup tracks the percentage of employed Americans who report their company is hiring or laying off workers.  The most recent tally displays an improving job market, in which 35% of companies are hiring compared to 16% that are letting go of employees.  These percentages have hardly changed since four years ago, when 37% of companies were hiring and 16% were laying off.  However, since bottoming out at 24% in late 2009, the percentage of companies that were seeking employees has risen steadily to its current level.  Conversely, the percentage of companies laying off its workforce peaked in early 2009, and has since fallen consistently.

Religious Americans Experience Greater Well-Being

A recent Gallup report suggests a statistically significant relationship between religiosity (measured in part by frequency of church/synagogue/mosque attendance) and the well-being of an individual. The same results were yielded even after controlling for various demographic factors, such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Gallup’s Well-Being index is composed of six groups, among them the Emotional Health Index and Work Environment Index. In 5 out of 6 of these indices, religious individuals scored higher than nonreligious individuals, while the Physical Health Index was the only sub-group in which nonreligious individuals outperformed their religious counterparts.