Recession takes a greater toll on men's health

BEIJING, March 11 (Chinese medianet) -- The global economic

downturn is more likely to damage mental health of men than women, according to

British researchers.

In spite of more women than men losing their jobs in

Britain following recession, men who think they may be fired or made redundant

are more prone to become more stressed and depressed than women, a study by

Cambridge University showed.

As the economic slowdown wears on, the effects of job

insecurity will hit men harder than women as job insecurity threatens an

inherent sense of masculinity, damaging mental health, the study found.

"In part there is a macho issue about men being the

breadwinner," said Dr Brendan Burchell from the University of Cambridge's

sociology department, who compiled the study.

"Men, unlike women, have few positive ways of

defining themselves outside of the workplace between when they leave school and

when they retire."

He said that despite several decades of more equal

employment opportunities for men and women, men retain traditional beliefs that

their masculinity is threatened if their employment is threatened."

Analyzing data from 300 current British employees,

combined with a survey of thousands of people by the Economic and Social

Research Council charting the effects of social and economic change since 1991,

it found that when unemployed men move into insecure jobs, they showed no

improvement in psychological health.

For unemployed women, even finding an insecure job

helped to restore psychological health.

(Agencies)