Health, Wellbeing and Social Support in the Groups of Employed and Unemployed in a Finnish Community

Timo Toikko, Yerkin Kulymbaevitch Uisimbayev, Aini Pehkonen

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Health, Wellbeing and Social Support in the Groups of Employed and Unemployed in a Finnish Community

Timo Toikko, Yerkin Kulymbaevitch Uisimbayev, Aini Pehkonen

Medailon autora:

Timo Toikko is a professor of social work at the University of Eastern Finland. He has authored
books on the history of Finnish social work, and the current development of Finnish social care
services.

Yerkin Kulymbaevitch Uisimbayev is a doctoral student at the Academy of Public Administration,
which is under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Aini Pehkonen is a professor of social work at the University of Eastern Finland. Her research
interest is focused on social inclusion, social exclusion, social relations and social capital.

Abstrakt:

OBJECTIVES: In the present study, we examine whether the labour market status is a significant factor in explaining the association between self-rated health and subjective well-being. THEORETICAL BASE: We test whether social support reduces the negative effects of impaired health on well-being. Hence, we analysed whether the groups of employed and unemployed are different in terms of how they each benefit from receiving social support. METHODS: The study is based on a survey conducted in 2016. The data consist of 841 respondents from which 732 had the labour market status of employed people and 109 had the labour market status of unemployed people. OUTCOMES: Labour market status is a significant factor in explaining the association between self-rated health and subjective well-being. Unemployed people with a low health status had a much lower rating with respect to subjective well-being compared to employed people with a similar low-rated health situation. There is a greater reduction in the impact of negative factors on subjective well-being via social support in the group of employed people. SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATIONS: The findings suggest that disadvantaged people should have been offered intensified services. From a policy perspective, the findings suggest a need for close cooperation between health, labour and social services.