Poll of Unemployed Adults

Posted on December 15, 2009 by townsend

• Poll reveals trauma of joblessness in U.S., By Michael Luo and Megan Thee-Brenan, December 14, 2009, New York Times: “More than half of the nation’s unemployed workers have borrowed money from friends or relatives since losing their jobs. An equal number have cut back on doctor visits or medical treatments because they are out of work. Almost half have suffered from depression or anxiety. About 4 in 10 parents have noticed behavioral changes in their children that they attribute to their difficulties in finding work. Joblessness has wreaked financial and emotional havoc on the lives of many of those out of work, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll of unemployed adults, causing major life changes, mental health issues and trouble maintaining even basic necessities…”
• Poll: For many, unemployment brings crisis, By Brian Montopoli, December 14, 2009, CBS News: “The economic downturn has brought financial crisis, emotional problems and difficulty in attaining basic medical care into the lives of unemployed Americans, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds. The poll, taken as unemployment stands at ten percent, marks the most in-depth look at the situation faced by the unemployed of any recent survey. To gather the data, CBS News and the New York Times interviewed more than 700 unemployed Americans. They found that 86 percent of those surveyed say the loss of their jobs plunged them into crisis. For 46 percent of the unemployed, that crisis was described as ‘major.’ And it tends to deepen with time: Among those out of work more than six months, 57 percent say their unemployment caused a major life crisis…”