Health effects of being out of work:

The health impact of being out of work long-term include:

Being off work for even short periods can cause significant problems for the employee and their family.

A negative frame of mind can develop within a few weeks. This increases the likelihood of long term disability.

Most people derive self esteem and self image from their work activities. Loss of work results in the person losing part of their identity, their self image suffers.

A woman who is productive at work and focused on care for her family and home knows herself as strong and dependable. She likes to look after people. With a shoulder problem limiting activity for months, the ways she sees herself - caring for her family and helping out at work - is compromised. When she remains off work for more than a month or two, particularly with no end in sight and is not able to do her usual things at home, a sense of despondency and suffering results. She has lost who she knows herself to be.

A man who sees himself as physically strong and the breadwinner is off work for nine months with back pain. He received reduced wages, no overtime, and no shift allowances. It is a struggle to make ends meet, there is no money for the teenagers to go to the movies, or for a trip away. Each time a money issue comes up he feels a deep inner guilt and upset. He is supposed to be the provider.

Work injuries also affect the health of the family. Relationships are placed under stress. Separation and divorce are not uncommon with long term work absence. The health of adolescents is poorer when one or both of the parents are long term out of work.

Lastly, a significant period of time off work makes it more likely a person will have future periods of time off work.

When an individual returns to employment, signs of general health and well being improve (self-esteem, self-reported health, physical health, and self-satisfaction).

People who have returned to work are healthier than those who have not. One might assume that people with better health in the first place are simply more likely to return to work. However, studies have shown that most of the improvement is simply caused by re-employment.

Many people lose significant amounts of income through a work injury. The system may provide wage replacement, but in many cases this is less than their usual income, and often it is significantly less.

Despite benefits paid it has been estimated that the overall cost burden for a work injury is met one third by the employee, one third by the employer, and one third by the community.