Running head: UNEMPLOYMENT 1

Causes and Effects of Unemployment

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
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Unemployment is an economic factor that affects almost all countries in the world and

has gone a long way to cause major issues in our society today. With the topics of shelter, food,

clothing, housing, vacations and a variety of life moving entities in the family, unemployment

and even employment has become the center stage of all. Looking into the meaning of

employment, it is the state of action that puts one to task to deliver an interest required by a

person or an organization which in return the person earns a living[ CITATION Hau11 \l 1033 ].

Therefore, unemployment is simply the lack to acquire such an opportunity. Unemployment does

not only affect persons that are already employed or seeking employment but also business

owners who eventually or at some point lose the significance of their business.

With numerous discussions on unemployment with the quest of obtaining solutions to

counter the economic problem, various questions have been raised on how effective and efficient

the solution to save the situations that is currently being faced by families will be. The family in

every way is at the center of concern due to the mere fact that it is the basic unit of a family

structure. In this endeavor, if the solution to cab unemployment will be found, it will go a long

way and assist an individual which will ultimately assist the family. Thus, unemployment is a

major source of problem to many people which inductively passes the repulsion of difficulty to

the family and the society as a whole[ CITATION Nil11 \l 1033 ]. In this paper, the causes and

effects of unemployment are going to be discussed on how they affect an individual and its

impact on the family.

The major cause of unemployment today is job loss from a particular employer.

Whenever an individual is fired from where he or she is working, the immediate effect is loss of

income. There are many factors that are associated with job loss and sometimes people lose their
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jobs without even getting their benefits due to issues of bad conduct or violation of the

organizations policies. In the society today most people are employed and only a few have

businesses or rather are business owners, therefore, the case of job loss is common in many

places making it a major cause of unemployment. Looking intently into the factors that lead to

job loss performance issues comes into play quite well as it is evident employers will need

performers and not just participators in business.

For this reason, some individuals might lack the required skills to deliver their mandates

on their jobs, also they might have a habit of skipping duties and frequent absenteeism. Some

individuals might have conflicts with their fellow workmates and even management as far as

personality is concerned, and as such many end up getting fired from their jobs. Another

common issue that has seen many go home without jobs is economic situations. A company may

need to cut cost of production and therefore they may end up lay them off from work or issue the

employees incentives to take early retirement. Such actions might be termed as drastic and

sometimes in human but sustainability and profitability are the key focus in the business

world[ CITATION Jan14 \l 1033 ].

The second major cause of unemployment is the inconsistency or the incongruity

between the job positions to be filled out and workers available. In the case where there are very

many qualified workers for a similar position and the available positions are limited, thus

employment rates will rise. In the case where there are very many positions to be filled out and

the available workers do not have the relevant training, unemployment rates rise. The latter has a

higher unemployment rate since the workers available are very many and yet they do not have
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the necessary skills, so no one will fill out the position but in the other case there are a few who

will be lucky enough to fill out the job positions.

There are also a number of causes that are associated with unemployment and depend on

the region of placement or particular areas of focus. Some individuals can become unemployed

due to prolonged sickness since sickness causes them to be out of work for a very long time. For

this matter, the company will look for an alternative person to serve in a similar capacity. Some

jobs require a complete person and those who are physically and mentally challenged sometimes

are not eligible to serve in certain positions therefore become unemployed[ CITATION Hau11 \l

1033 ]. Business sometimes fall out of operation due to financial constraints such as prolonged

losses and even inability to pay loans. Such cases cause the business to be liquidated in most

cases due to bankruptcy and many people including the business owner lose their jobs.

Unemployment is very critical to an individual who is unemployed and has a number of

effects on their lifestyles. A more vivid effect is the economic effect and affects an individual’s

financial position. Someone who is unemployed has a tendency of depleting their savings due to

too much spending without having income to replace the already spent money[ CITATION Jan14 \l

1033 ]. This happens in most cases to those who had jobs and lost them due to the reasons stated

earlier. From what they had saved, they deplete their savings rapidly especially as they such for

other job opportunities. Financial obligations in the today's society are a daily concern and their

fore an individual will experience strain especially in a family where there are much more

expectations[ CITATION Hau11 \l 1033 ]. Such a situation is very stressful and one can end up

depleting their savings and have constrained budgets in the family.

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Another economic concern is brought about by the absence of the qualified personnel in

an industry. Sometimes it becomes an aspect of incompetency of a particular person and the

company will face very many challenges. One major challenge is low productivity since

effectiveness of the personnel will be deteriorated and the company’s product might lose value

and reduce profits eventually. Also, when a company or an organization retrenches some of its

personnel, effectiveness of the workers will also reduce since the amount of work that they will

be subjected to will be too much. The staff members will also go for very long off sessions due

to burnout of their relevant employment demands. In this case the effect will be both on the

company staff and the companies output. Therefore, such cases are a factor that are brought

about by unemployment.

Job unemployment at times has got some damaging effects on people if not handled

carefully. The most common effect at any situation of job loss is shock. It is a sudden effect

where one is taken away from their normal daily routine and also their usual income generating

activity. Many thoughts arise in such a situation in that fear crops in as one anticipates an

impossible ability to secure another job and moreover the situation worsens as one remembers

the financial obligations that they have to meet. With very many thoughts of insecurities coming

through a person’s thought process they tend to be in shock and state of fear[ CITATION Nil11 \l

1033 ]. Being laid off from work sometimes brings about the feeling of being incompetent while

others think of some other individuals as the course of their dismissal. Such factors are very

devastating and the state of shock can bring about depression.

The situation can be worse especially if in the family, one or two providers have lost their

jobs. The obvious effect that is certain is that the availability of money becomes scarce in the
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home. What results is tension arises in the house since the budgets for normal schedules are cut

and certain benefits no longer become privileges. People might live in the same house but their

talking terms are very minimal and sometimes any small provocation leads to a fight. Such cases

are brought about by insecurities of the providers as much dependence and constraints become a

concern. The self-esteem of such persons goes down and are very tough to assist since the family

members may not have any idea of how to approach the situation[ CITATION Hau11 \l 1033 ].

Unemployment as seen in the essay, affects very many people especially for a family

person the effects is felt by very many people. The major aspect that is of significance is income

and if income is not available then a number of issues crop up. Therefore, living without a source

of income is very difficult and as seen unemployment can affect already employed people or

those searching for employment especially graduates. Also, business owners if they don’t do

well in their ventures, then unemployment knocks at their doors. Even the physically challenged

and the sick can be faced with unemployment. The major economic effect of unemployment is

lack of income which reduces the purchasing power of individuals and families. Another major

effect is that the person affected can be faced with a spectrum of emotions, sadness, anger,

confusion and low self-esteem. Therefore, unemployment is a problem that does not only affect

individuals but also families.

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References

Haugen, D. M., & Susan, M. (2011). Unemployment. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

Janoski, Thomas, David, L., & Christopher, O. (2014). The causes of structural unemployment:

four factors that keep people from the jobs they deserve.

Nilsen, Ø. A., & Katrine, H. R. (2011). Scarring effects of unemployment. München: CESifo.