Recession Depression

Dealing With Layoffs and Downsizing

By Carma Haley Shoemaker

Pages: 1 2 3

The discarding of workers in times of corporate belt-tightening or the complete collapse of a company such as Enron may signify that the talk of a new economy may be more myth than reality. For workers without jobs, it's the same economy as always. Fathers, being the "traditional" breadwinners and responsible for supporting the family, can suffer from the trends of today's economic climate and very easily may go into a depression.

According to the Department of Labor, the national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, with approximately 7.7 million people unemployed, an increase of .5 percent since the September 11 tragedy. While the primary effects are well-known financial strain there are other effects of a more personal nature that can last far past re-employment.

"I followed 50 men as research while composing an article for Psychology Today," says Dorothea Braginsky, professor of psychology at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn. "Nearly all of the men I studied, men who had lost their jobs, had dramatically lower self-esteem than those still employed and held very cynical views regarding society. After re-employment, their self-esteem never rebounded entirely and their level of cynicism toward society remained the same. Once a person has been made to feel 'surplus' and expendable, they are forever scarred."

More than a loss of income, the effects of being laid off, let go or downsized can go beyond the financial. A person's self-worth may directly be linked to their net worth. "Everyone's self esteem is affected by layoffs but especially dads," says Linda Nash, president of LJ Nash & Assoc. Inc., a change management consulting and training firm in St. Louis, Mo. "Dads are still the primary breadwinners, in most households and they feel the responsibility to take care of their families and provide all the things our society is accustomed to. Even when it isn't their fault they feel they have let everyone down, especially when they can't find something else right away. Men tend to identify with their jobs, feeling a loss of identity and even loss of purpose when employment is impacted."

Pages: 1 2 3

SAH Mom	Working Mom
SAH Dad	Working Dad
Adoptive Parent	Grandparent
Parent of Twins	Special Needs Parent

Recession Depression

Dealing With Layoffs and Downsizing

By Carma Haley Shoemaker

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