Job insecurity is an important psychosocial stressor in working life, but its relationship with mental health may differ depending on where people are in their careers. A Swedish longitudinal study examines how job insecurity and depressive symptoms are related among younger and older workers, with a particular focus on young working women.
Young workers often occupy more uncertain positions in the labour market and may have fewer economic and occupational resources to manage insecurity. Previous studies have linked job insecurity to poorer mental health, but less is known about whether the relationship differs according to age and gender or whether depressive symptoms may themselves contribute to later perceptions of insecurity.
The researchers used six waves of data from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health, SLOSH, collected between 2010 and 2020. The study included 14,827 working individuals and examined job insecurity and depressive symptoms among younger workers aged 35 or below and older workers, with analyses conducted separately for women and men.
Younger workers reported higher levels of job insecurity than older workers. Among younger women and men, greater job insecurity was associated with more depressive symptoms two years later, while depressive symptoms did not significantly predict subsequent job insecurity. Contrary to expectations, the researchers found no clear gender differences in these associations.
Among older workers, the relationship was more reciprocal. Job insecurity was associated with later depressive symptoms, but depressive symptoms showed a stronger association with subsequent job insecurity. The findings suggest that job insecurity may be a particularly important psychosocial work stressor early in working life and highlight the potential value of improving employment stability and working conditions for younger workers.
Read more: 10.1007/s00420-026-02230-6