Job programs reduce death during recession

SAN FRANCISCO, July 9 (UPI) -- A rapid rise in unemployment can be linked to an increase in suicides, homicides and alcohol abuse, but job programs can mitigate this, U.S. researchers said.

The study, published in The Lancet, indicated a rise of 3 percent in unemployment is associated with a 4.5 percent increase in suicides and a 28 percent increase in deaths from alcohol abuse in those younger than 65.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, University of Oxford and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said that each 1 percent increase in unemployment raised suicide rates by 0.8 percent and homicide rates by 0.8 percent.

"Financial crisis causes economic hardship for many people, but it does not have to cost them their lives," study co-author Dr. Sanjay Basu of the University of California, San Francisco said in a statement. "Our data suggests that investments in job creation and retention programs may be key to preventing a rise in deaths during recession."

Using data from the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization, the researchers analyzed more than 50 causes of death in 26 European Union countries from 1970 to 2007 and compared the results to unemployment data and government social spending.

The researchers found that if a government spent about $190 per person per year in "active labor market programs" then a rise in unemployment would be unlikely to increase mortality.

The British government spends about $150 per head per year on active labor market programs and the U.S. government spends about half $75.