Policy implications for employment

In a market economy, employment is the main source of income for most of the population. ¹ It is through employment that people are able to fully participate in society both because employment itself is a social activity, and because the income earned allows one to enjoy the minimum economic and social benefits considered by many to be human rights. Without paying jobs, individuals are unable to partake in a large number of social activities. In capitalist, wage-labor societies, therefore, joblessness creates a long list of problems—both for the individuals and for society as a whole: self-pity, self-loathing, and rage at society (Harvey 2002); absolute and relative poverty, damage to social status and self respect, adverse psychological and physical health effects, stress, suicide, crime, and other anti-social behavior.