Social Problems Due to Unemployment

This paper discusses the emergence of unemployment and the social problems arising and affecting the people as a consequence with added emphasis placed on the situation in Pakistan. Unemployment itself is a rapidly growing social issue, plaguing the citizens of the country, acting as the root cause of innumerable problems which further emphasizes on the severity of the issue and the urgency to ensure it is lowered and no longer acts as a hindrance for the progress of the country and its people. ARTICLE INFORMATION Received: 29 January 2019 Revised: 05 February 2019 Accepted: 15 February 2019 DOI: 10.31580/jmis.v1i2.476


INTRODUCTION
Unemployment is not only harmful for an individual but also has a great impact on society as a whole because most of the economical issues arise from unemployment. Now a day's people prefer machinery work instead of manual work so the use of labor is declining and the rate of unemployment is increasing. In this article we are going to discuss the negative impacts of unemployment and how it affects people's physical and mental health.
First of all we will discuss the very common issue arising from unemployment that is poverty.
Secondly, we will discuss how unemployment affects a person's physical and mental health.
Then we will discuss the impact of parents' unemployment on their children.
And lastly we will talk about how people face issues of social isolation due to unemployment and financial issues.

Causes and Impact of Poverty
Poverty is one of the more dominant social issues prevailing in Pakistan and such a widely spread and complex issue is bound to result from several other problematic issues taking root in the country, one of them being the lack of jobs.
Primarily unemployment creates poverty through the loss of income as not having a job cuts down the people's income, leaving them penniless and helpless to care for and support their large families as Pakistan is known for having an abundance of extended families, making the situation more severe than in the developed countries where there is not a large number of family members to cater to. The risk of falling into long-term unemployment rises once unemployment takes root and a poverty trap may be created, as families do not have the necessary tools to become employed. When people live in impoverished areas, they get low quality housing, underfunded schools and restricted access to public transportation. These problems lower an individual's chance of finding employment. Tess Hinteregger (2017) all such factors indicate that unemployment creates poverty and poverty also reduces the chance of being employed, which is why they are trapped in an endless, vicious cycle that is hard to break out of.
Poverty, after resulting from other social issues in Pakistan, inflicts its own form of damage in the country. The primary issue being the loss of income that leaves people unable to satisfy basic needs. Due to this, they turn to borrowing money from others to tend to their immediate needs without having sufficient means to pay them back, leaving them drowning deeper under the weight of debts that allow them no room to proceed towards any true progress that may help them improve their standards of living. It allots them barely enough money to make ends meet let alone to satisfy their children's desires and give them their basic right of acquiring quality education. Even when they do receive it, it is hindered, as they too need to contribute to the income generation by doing odd jobs, which also promotes child labor.
As people are desperate to find jobs, they concede to working in unsafe environments like working in mines where there are chances that they might be trapped underground and even die due to having no oxygen. As the poor cannot afford clean drinking water and a hygienic place to live in, they may even be diagnosed with water and food related diseases.
For society, poverty is a very dangerous factor that can destabilize an entire country. Scarlet Shelton (2016) Civil disobedience may also result so they can protest against their current position. They may start committing crimes to earn for a living and may start riots and largescale rebellion to change the existing social order where they have no means for living and are doomed to starvation, as they would have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Physical and Mental Health Issues
Physical health issues also result from unemployment though it may not be obvious at first glance. Gore discovered that while unemployed, the unsupported showed significantly higher elevations and more changes in cholesterol measures, illness symptoms and affective responses than the supported unemployed. Gore (1978) a study indicated that unemployed people suffered more days in bed and visits to the physicians than employed and these results also supported the results of Kasl and Cobb who found that job loss increased the use of medical care. Linn (1985) certain diagnostic problems were identified among the unemployed people which suggested a possibility of them being emotionally derived as they were episodic. They included respiratory problems, skin rashes, colds etc.
In a study by Fagin, general practitioners were found usually to be unaware of the breadwinner's unemployment. Fagin (1981) the lack of control that the involuntarily unemployed may feel is supportive of a model developed by (Karasek and Theorell, 1990). The model they came up with showed that people without jobs have lower control over their "work" environment and reduced demand placed on them as compared to the people who do have jobs. It suggested that a person's health may be improved due to an aspect of the "demand" but an extremely high or low amount of demand may even be detrimental to a person's health.
Another factor affecting health is low quality, unhealthy food that is what unemployed people have to rely on at times, as it is cheaper. Another extreme may also occur, namely obesity, as some people tend to eat to fill their emotional void, which could cause cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
When people lose their jobs, they don't just lose their monthly income but also their personal work relationships, the daily routine they were accustomed to and an important sense of self-purpose. People can feel some of the same feelings and stresses that they would if they were seriously injured, going through a divorce or mourning the loss of a loved one.
Unemployed people are forced to reduce their living standards, which could influence both their physical and mental health. It promotes a great level of insecurity that could rise steadily with the decreasing hope of acquiring a job. A large expanse of distance may also be created between the unemployed and their friends, families and may also result in a shrinking of social networks. They may have low self-esteem due to this loss of engagement. A study stated that unemployment had an adverse effect on psychological function, with the unemployed becoming more anxious, depressed and concerned with bodily symptoms than those who continued to work (Canadian Mental Health Association website).
As extended families exist dominantly in Pakistan, they feel guilty for being unable to provide for them and it may limit their own chances for feelings of achievement and satisfaction. It also gives rise to stress, which weigh unemployed people down even further due to the urgency of finding a job as soon as they can manage. Seeing the careers of others may lead to feelings jealousy and inferiority. The constant worrying of finding a job would nag a person which may leave them frustrated and unfocused. A person should never forget that problems like unemployment can be overcome sooner or later but a blow to the health and a lost mental balance may take years to restore.

Unemployment Is Harmful For Children
Long-term unemployment of parents affects behavior of children in many ways. The aid of policymakers towards the effected families is too low to compensate their efforts of making both ends meet. Statistics say that only 36% of those affecting families are provided with unemployment insurance cover and 39% with SNAP/TANP assistance. As of 2011, 35% remained deprived of policymaker's backing at all in this regard (Christina Kelly, 2013).
Since the root cause of financial crunch is unemployment so the continuous shortage of money not only deters the parents from fulfilling the basic needs of children but consequently due to ignorance of demands and wishes of children, the family bonding is weakened and children grow with the sense of inferiority complex.
Long-term unemployment of parents affects children's physical and moral development when their wants and desires are not fulfilled, when they don't have access to the basic things they need. Unemployment of parents also affects children's education when parents are not able to pay for their children's school and college fees due to financial issues. It will affect the future of the children who receive poor education because they will have fewer job opportunities. Parents' unemployment affects children's health when they do not have access to proper nutrition.

Social Isolation
Social isolation is the other major standalone issue that stems from an extended period of unemployment. When one is unemployed, obviously his daily contacts with friends and peers are lost and work relationship fades away. Some may prefer to stay alone to prevent themselves from the awkwardness they feel while socializing since our human bodies are adaptive and responsive towards any peril/threats to our body, so the minor stress is able to be dealt with our build in system accordingly, however persistent long term stress affects the mental health and capabilities of human bodies adversely. As per modern research joblessness leads to anxiety and stress to a very large extent. The constant diffidence in the personality and behavior results in social seclusion and withdrawal thereby taking stress to another level.
Our workplaces are primary places where we start understanding the meaning of socialization in the real sense. They nourish us in a way that we are able to interact and adapt to our surroundings for our healthy wellbeing. The impulsive loss of the social relationship leads to depression.
In addition to the aforementioned points studies have shown that our brain is also affected due to continuous death of socialization and friendship in our daily lives. The risk factors that lead to social isolation can be domestic violence, family crisis, loss of spouse, health and disabilities, unemployment, aging, living alone and social adversities etc.
Symptoms of social isolation can be physical or mental such as: 1) Aches and headaches 2) Depression and anxiety 3) Lack of motivation 4) Lack of sleep 5) Loss of appetite 6) Thoughts of suicide

Conclusion
This paper has endeavored to educate the general population about the innumerable problems resulting from the lack of jobs. It being a social problem itself has given rise to several other social problems, which emphasizes on the severity of the issue and the need to create an environment that allows businesses to flourish and more job opportunities to be created.