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Published Online: 1 October 2014

Employment Status of People With Mental Illness: National Survey Data From 2009 and 2010

Abstract

As sheltered work for persons with mental illness is defunded, persons with mental illness are increasingly affected by the same forces that shape the broader economy. This study examined employment survey data from 2009 and 2010, a period of slow recovery from a devastating recession. The results depict a mixed jobs picture for persons with mental illness, with employment rates varying widely by severity of mental illness. College graduates with serious mental illness had relatively strong employment outcomes, but unemployment spiked among people with serious mental illness over age 50.

Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to describe employment according to mental illness severity in the United States during 2009 and 2010.

Methods

The sample included all working-age participants (ages 18–64) from the 2009 and 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N=77,326). Two well-established scales of mental health distinguished participants with none, mild, moderate, and serious mental illness. Analyses compared employment rate and income by mental illness severity. Employment status was estimated with logistic regression models that controlled for demographic characteristics and substance use disorders. In secondary analyses the relationship between mental illness and employment was assessed for variation by age and education status.

Results

Employment rates decreased with increasing mental illness severity (no mental illness, 75.9% employment; mild, 68.8%; moderate, 62.7%; and serious, 54.5%, p<.001). Over a third of people with serious mental illness, 38.5%, had incomes <$10,000 (compared with 23.1% of people with no mental illness, p<.001). The gap in adjusted employment rates comparing persons with serious versus no mental illness was 1% among people 18–25 years old versus 21% among people 50–64 (p<.001).

Conclusions

More severe mental illness was associated with lower employment rates in 2009 and 2010. People with serious mental illness are less likely than people with no, mild, or moderate mental illness to be employed after age 49.

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Go to Psychiatric Services
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Cover: Shamrock Ranch, by Peter Hurd, 1962. Watercolor, 12 × 16 inches. New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe. Gift of the family of Edythe C. Mattone, 2005.

Psychiatric Services
Pages: 1201 - 1209
PubMed: 24933361

History

Published online: 1 October 2014
Published in print: October 2014

Authors

Details

Alison Luciano, Ph.D.
Dr. Luciano is with the Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center and Dr. Meara is with the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, both at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire (e-mail: [email protected]). Dr. Meara is also with the National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ellen Meara, Ph.D.
Dr. Luciano is with the Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center and Dr. Meara is with the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, both at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire (e-mail: [email protected]). Dr. Meara is also with the National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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