Unemployment and social exclusion in the European Union

This paper examines the argument that unemployment leads to higher levels of social isolation, which in turn reinforces long-term marginalization from the labour market by reducing financial resources and increasing psychological distress. It examines social isolation both in terms of people’s position in the household and the nature and quality of their social networks. It considers whether the link between unemployment and social isolation is of a general type or is mediated by societal variations in patterns of household structure and sociability. It argues that while the evidence is consistent with the view that social isolation among unemployed people does reinforce other types of disadvantage, vulnerability to social isolation varies in important ways between societies. The paper draws upon data from a major EU survey carried out in 1996, which provides comparative evidence for all member states.