Underemployment and its impacts on mental health among those with disabilities: evidence from the HILDA cohort. Issue 12 (29th September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Milner, Allison; King, Tania Louise; LaMontagne, Anthony D; Aitken, Zoe; Petrie, Dennis; Kavanagh, Anne M
• Is Part Of: Journal of epidemiology and community health. Volume 71:Issue 12(2017)
• Page Start: 1198
• Page End: 1202
• Publication Date: 2017-09-29
• Subjects: underemployment -- mental health -- disabilities -- employment precarity; Public health -- Periodicals; Epidemiology -- Periodicals; 614.4
• DOI: 10.1136/jech-2017-209800
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-005X

Abstract

Abstract : Background: Underemployment (defined as when a person in paid employment works for fewer hours than their desired full working capacity) is increasingly recognised as a component of employment precarity. This paper sought to investigate the effects of underemployment on the mental health of people with disabilities. Methods: Using 14 waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, we used fixed-effects models to assess whether the presence of a disability modified the association between underemployment and mental health. Both disability and underemployment were assessed as time-varying factors. Measures of effect measure modification were presented on the additive scale. Results: The experience of underemployment was associated with a significantly greater decline in mental health when a person reported a disability (mean difference −1.38, 95% CI −2.20 to −0.57) compared with when they did not report a disability (mean difference −0.49, 95% CI −0.84 to −0.14). The combined effect of being underemployed and having a disability was nearly one point greater than the summed independent risks of having a disability and being underemployed (−0.89, 95% CI −1.75 to –0.03). Conclusion: People with disabilities are more likely to experience underemployment and more likely to have their mental health adversely affected by it. There is a need for more research and policy attention on how to ameliorate the effects of underemployment on the mental health of persons with disabilities.