New CERIC Blog: Cut hours, not people: no work, furlough, short hours and mental health during COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.
Is mental health being affected by the changes to working arrangements during the Covid-19 crisis?
CERIC member, Dr Ioulia Bessa, has written the latest CERIC blog titled “Cut hours, not people: no work, furlough, short hours and mental health during COVID-19 pandemic in the UK”.
“Paid work is not only a source for income, it is also essential for good mental health. Apart from its financial benefits employment contributes positively on wellbeing and consistent with previous research even one day of paid work a week can make the difference and can boost mental health and life satisfaction. How has Covid-19 crisis impacted employment and consequently mental health in the UK? Our recent research project shows that during the pandemic workers who are furloughed or worked reduced hours have better mental health than people who lost their jobs.
The Covid-19 pandemic risked plunging millions of workers into unemployment. To mitigate the damage of both unemployment and low mental health, the government introduced Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme allowing for the furloughing of workers...”
