This outstanding book provides a rare insight into ground-breaking comprehensive research from Europe, Australia, Asia and the United States on the health impact of unemployment on the individual and the community. Featuring authors from across the fields of psychology, medicine, economics, sociology, occupational health and organisational development, Unemployment and Health outlines current theory and findings about the factors responsible for the generally detrimental health effects of being out of work or in unstable employment. This book is a vital resource for policy-makers, social workers, educators, researchers, students and anyone with an interest in the global effects of unemployment on the human condition.

Unemployment and Health is based on presentations by leading researchers at the Second International Expert Conference organised by the Scientific Committee Unemployment and Health of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) on ‘Occupational Transitions: Unemployment, Underemployment and Health’, held in Adelaide, Australia in December 2001. The activities of this body bring together researchers working specifically on occupational health issues related to employment with those focusing on the health effects of being out of work in a society centred on paid employment. Thus the ICOH Scientific Committee tries to bridge these two areas that are traditionally separated and to reduce the gap between unemployment research and occupational health. The Adelaide conference was the second international conference. The first one, held in Paris in 1998, focused on interventions with unemployed people. Additional contributions have been invited from other leading researchers who were unable to attend the conference.