麻豆传媒AV

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The longer Americans are unemployed, the more jobs they apply for, and the more interviews they go on, the less likely they are to rate their lives well enough to be considered "thriving." Worry, sadness, stress, anger, and diagnoses of depression all also increase significantly among the unemployed who report longer, more drawn out job searches.

Less than 4 in 10 unemployed adults (34%) who have been searching for a job for 11 weeks or more rate their lives well enough to be categorized as thriving, compared with 47% of those who have been looking for work for 10 weeks or less and 55% of all other national adults. Life ratings are also lower among the unemployed who have applied for 11 or more jobs or gone on 11 or more job interviews.

麻豆传媒AV classifies respondents worldwide as "thriving," "suffering," or "struggling" based on how they rate their current and future lives based on the .

Those involved in a lengthy job search also experience lower emotional well-being on a day-to-day basis. For example, a majority of unemployed Americans who have been looking for work for 11 or more weeks, have applied for 11 or more jobs, and have gone on 11 or more job interviews report that they experienced stress "yesterday," compared with less than half of the shorter term unemployed, and 35% of all other adults.

This analysis is based on a USA Today/麻豆传媒AV poll conducted as part of 麻豆传媒AV Daily tracking between Dec. 21, 2010, and Jan. 9, 2011. While perhaps intuitive, the findings highlight the extent of the emotional toll and risks of long-term joblessness brought on by the current unemployment situation. These findings are also significant in that they apply to many of the unemployed; the same poll found that half of .

Hope a Distinguishing Factor for Well-Being of the Unemployed

Hope appears to be vital to mitigating some of the negative effects of long-term unemployment. Unemployed Americans who are not hopeful about their job prospects -- those who think they will have to settle for a job they don't want or who don't think they will have a job in the next four weeks -- rate their lives significantly worse than the unemployed who are hopeful.

Less than 4 in 10 unemployed Americans who are not hopeful about their job prospects rate their lives well enough to be categorized as thriving. In contrast, 57% of the unemployed who think they will get a job they want and 48% who believe they will have a job in the next four weeks are thriving.

Unemployed Americans who are not hopeful about their job outlook are also significantly more likely to experience a slew of negative emotions than are the unemployed who do hold out hope. Stress, sadness, worry, and anger are all higher for the non-hopeful unemployed than for the jobless who are hopeful.

The findings are particularly relevant as the same poll found that the and a plurality do not think they will get a job in the next four weeks, meaning that the unemployed non-hopeful group represents a large number of Americans.

The Path to Lower Well-Being

There is a clear connection between the low life ratings and emotional well-being among the non-hopeful unemployed and the unemployed who have been searching long and hard for work. It appears that the longer a person is out of work, the more likely he or she is to lose hope, which in turn, or in a compounding manner, affects the well-being of the unemployed.

The unemployed who have been looking for a job for 11 or more weeks are significantly more likely to say they have to settle for a job they don't really want (72%), and that they will not have a job in the next four weeks (58%).

Bottom Line

Two types of unemployed individuals are the most vulnerable to declining well-being: those who have been grappling with a lengthy and cumbersome job search and those who are not hopeful about their job prospects. Unfortunately, these two groups make up a substantial portion of those who are unemployed in the United States. This means that millions of Americans who are without work are worried, sad, stressed, angry, and depressed, and are rating their lives in general lower, which adds up to a demoralized population that may lack the energy and motivation to succeed or find creative ways to climb out of joblessness. There are close to 14 million unemployed people in America, and if they don't believe in a brighter future for themselves ahead, this mindset could ultimately be problematic for the country as a whole.

About the 麻豆传媒AV-Healthways Well-Being Index

The 麻豆传媒AV-Healthways Well-Being Index tracks U.S. well-being and provides best-in-class solutions for a healthier world. To learn more, please visit .