Unemployment: A double burden and a public issue

Almost all European countries suffer from mass unemployment. More than 20 million persons in Europe are out of work. When the unemployment rate reaches such levels it can be assumed that it has implications not only for each unemployed individual but also for society as a whole. In this article, a distinction is made between unemployment as a private trouble and unemployment as a public issue. This distinction with regard to unemployment was introduced by Mills (1959) and illuminates the different, although interrelated, effects of unemployment on the individual and on the overall structure of society. The private trouble perspective raises the question of how individuals are affected by unemployment and the public issue examaines how unemployment affects society as a whole. We apply the reasoning by first discussing the relations between individual consequences of unemployment. We focus on two often neglected aspects, namely, economic hardship and shame. Then the implications for working life and society are discussed. There is much evidence indicating that the social and health consequences of unemployment are not limited to the unemployed and their families but also affect the working life and the overall structure of society. It is argued that mass unemployment might increase the process of social disintegration in society.