Job rates were not the only casualty of the economic crisis: the dramatic drop in happiness and well-being was especially notable across the world. As Rainer Winkelmann notes, this can often lead to a vicious cycle of stress and ineffective job search strategies, which can be difficult to break through policy intervention. However, even now that labor markets are picking up, average happiness levels remain stagnant. Xi Chen attributes this to hierarchical structures in society, which he asserts can have much worse effects on health and happiness. Relative deprivation, or lower status, can profoundly affect one's perception of success and policymakers should focus on ways to engage people in this position, to improve their labor outcomes and wider market growth.
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