27 Feb 2024

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Employment and Violence

Quality employment can often protect against violence[][][][] —especially if the job is stable and has good pay, benefits, and working conditions. Quality employment can help people:
  • Be financially independent
  • Access good housing, healthcare, food, and education
  • Gain more social connections and a sense of belonging
  • Feel good about their skills and contributions
Jobs that do not offer quality employment are less protective against violence. In some cases, workplaces can even be a source of violence.

[VE1] Heller, S. B. (2014). Summer jobs reduce violence among disadvantaged youth. Science (New York, N.Y.), 346(6214), 1219-1223. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1257809

[VE2] Uggen, C. (1999). Ex-Offenders and the Conformist Alternative: A Job Quality Model of Work and Crime. Social Problems, 46(1), 127–151. https://doi.org/10.2307/3097165

[VE3] Schleimer, J. P., Pear, V. A., McCort, C. D., Shev, A. B., De Biasi, A., Tomsich, E., Buggs, S., Laqueur, H. S., & Wintemute, G. J. (2022). Unemployment and Crime in US Cities During the Coronavirus Pandemic. Journal of urban health: bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 99(1), 82–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-021-00605-3

[VE4] Answer, M.K., Yousaf, Z., Nassani, A.A. et al. (2020). Dynamic linkages between poverty, inequality, crime, and social expenditures in a panel of 16 countries: two-step GMM estimates. Journal of Economic Structures, 9(43). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40008-020-00220-6