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  1. Economy and Politics
  2. Economy

The Great Recession Left These 4 Lingering Scars for People Who Lost Their Jobs

Published: May 10, 2016 3 min read
Businessman packing up box in office
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The Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 may be firmly in the past but even as the global economy continues its sluggish recovery the Recession’s effects continue to reverberate through the lives of people affected by the world economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Here are four ways the effects of the Great Recession are still with us, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

1. Wage Scarring

It’s true that there are early signs of a reversal in the long-term trend toward wage stagnation in the United States, but for people who lost jobs during the 2007-2009 downturn the picture is anything but rosy. It tends to be the case that when someone loses a job their earnings take a hit after they're rehired, even during times of economic growth. During a downturn though, the effect is even more pronounced. According to The Wall Street Journal, earnings for people laid off during recessions remain 15% to 20% lower even after 10 to 20 years

2. Lower Home Ownership

Forced to dip into savings to stay afloat and unable to count on a steady income to pay a mortgage, victims of the Recession are much less likely to own a home—for the long-term unemployed (people out of work for more than six months) the effect persists for more than 20 years.

3. Health Problems

Economists Anne Case and Agus Deaton link death rates overall for middle-aged whites to rising rates of suicide, drug abuse and liver disease, all of which can be potentially linked to the stress, anxiety and shame associated with losing a job. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. suicide rate climbed 24% from 1999 to 2014.

4. Stunted Families

Even the children of people put out of work during the Great Recession see the downturn’s lingering effects. According to the WSJ, lob loss of a father is linked to higher prevalence of anxiety and depression in children, higher likelihood of a kid repeating a grade, and even salaries 9% lower for the adult offspring of men who lost their jobs compared to those of those who didn’t.