Unemployment and health: selection or causation ‐ a false antithesis?

Abstract Observations on the effect of unemployment on health include note that the clustering in certain geographic areas of low income, job insecurity and poor housing are the experience of the same groups of people. Considerable difficulties exist in isolating the different aspects involved. Nonetheless, it is argued (1) that the effects of each separate strand are dependent upon and reinforced by the others; (2) that it is possible to clarify the ways in which the elements interrelate; and (3) that it is the whole pattern that most satisfactorily explains currently available data on unemployment and health.