ENGLISH ABSTRACT
Happiness and self-esteem among adolescents with an unemployed father
It
is generally believed that mass-unemployment involves high social costs, among which
an impaired psychological development of children in affected families. This paper
assesses psychological well-being in a sample of 2366 secondary schoolpupils in the
Netherlands in 1985. Of 244 of these the father was unemployed at that time. Children of
an unemployed father report slightly less happiness and self-esteem. These differences
persist after control for SES, urbanisation and schooltype. The differences are very small
however, and not always significant. The negative differences are most pronounced among
girls and al lower educational levels. Among boys and at the highest school level
unemployment of the father goes with slightly higher well-being.