Michael R. Strain, Columnist

The Crippling Return of Long-Term Unemployment

When joblessness is prolonged, more than people’s economic security is at stake.

August 22, 2020 at 12:00 PM UTC

Michael R. Strain is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is director of economic policy studies and Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of “The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It).”

Jobless in Kentucky, June 2020.
Photographer: John Sommers II/Getty Images North America

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More than 10 percent of Americans say they have recently given serious consideration to suicide. Among younger adults, that figure rises to over one in four. Thirteen percent of people have reported starting or increasing drug or alcohol use to cope with pandemic-related stress. Nearly one in three say they have symptoms of anxiety or depression.

These alarming statistics, based on a survey from late June, come from a report released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and show that the nation’s mental health has significantly deteriorated during the pandemic.