Researchers found that between 2000 and 2011, unemployment was the cause of about 45,000 suicides worldwide, with an uptick in numbers just after the latest recession first hit in 2008.
The doctors who conducted the study looked at data from the World Health Organization’s mortality figures and numbers from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook.
They then calculated the effect unemployment had on suicides in 63 countries over four world regions, comparing numbers from 2000-2007 – which the researchers labeled as economically stable and 2008-2011, years they classified as economically in crisis.
They found that not only was unemployment a factor in the increase in suicides, but that the recession in 2008 was responsible for nearly 5,000 additional suicides, and that suicide rates tended to go up six months before a rise in unemployment rates.
The study’s authors recommend that governments place a greater focus on reducing unemployment as much as possible, as a way of reducing the rate of suicides.
