TY - JOUR
T1 - Employment status and subjective well-being
T2 - The role of the social norm to work
AU - Stam, K.
AU - Sieben, I.J.P.
AU - Verbakel, C.M.C.
AU - de Graaf, P.M.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - This article examines to what extent a social norm to work moderates the relationship between employment status and subjective well-being. It was expected that the detrimental impact of non-employment on subjective well-being would be larger in countries with a stronger social norm. Using a direct measure of the social norm to work and employing data from 45 European countries, this study assessed subjective well-being levels of five employment status groups for men and women separately. Results showed that subjective well-being of unemployed men and women is unaffected by the social norm to work. However, non-working disabled men are worse off in countries with a stronger norm. Living in such a country also decreases the well-being gap between employed and retired men, whereas retired women are worse off in these countries. This effect for retirees disappears when a country’s GDP is taken into account, suggesting that norms matter less than affluence.
AB - This article examines to what extent a social norm to work moderates the relationship between employment status and subjective well-being. It was expected that the detrimental impact of non-employment on subjective well-being would be larger in countries with a stronger social norm. Using a direct measure of the social norm to work and employing data from 45 European countries, this study assessed subjective well-being levels of five employment status groups for men and women separately. Results showed that subjective well-being of unemployed men and women is unaffected by the social norm to work. However, non-working disabled men are worse off in countries with a stronger norm. Living in such a country also decreases the well-being gap between employed and retired men, whereas retired women are worse off in these countries. This effect for retirees disappears when a country’s GDP is taken into account, suggesting that norms matter less than affluence.
U2 - 10.1177/0950017014564602
DO - 10.1177/0950017014564602
M3 - Article
SN - 0950-0170
VL - 30
SP - 309
EP - 333
JO - Work, Employment and Society
JF - Work, Employment and Society
IS - 2
ER -