Smokers find it more difficult to be employed than non-smokers, according to a recent American study.
Tobacco and professional life do not mix. Smokers are more likely to be unemployed than non-smokers, according to a California study by Stanford medical school, published in the medical journal JAMA. In a year of unemployment, non-smokers would be more likely to be hired than smokers.
This is the first study devoted to the link between tobacco consumption and employment, in the United States, where smoking is stigmatized.
73.4% of smokers find themselves unemployed
Scientists followed for a year 131 regular smokers and 120 American non-smokers, from different social and ethnic backgrounds.
“We found that smokers had a much harder time finding employment than non-smokers,” said Prof. Judith Prochaska, lead author of the study.
Indeed, at the end of one year of observation, half of non-smokers (55.6%) found a job, against only 26.6% of smokers. Non-smokers would thus be 33% more likely to be hired.
Scientists also looked at the earnings of smokers and non-smokers while employed. And that’s double the penalty for smokers. Not only do they find a job less easily, but when they do, their income is lower. They would earn $ 5 an hour less.
Cause or consequence?
For researchers, the causal link remains complicated to establish. Although the numbers show a significant association, the explanation of the relationship between smoking and unemployment remains unclear. “We do not know if smokers have more difficulty finding a job, or if they run a greater risk of losing their job, or if non-smokers who lose their jobs become stressed and then start to smoke. », Explains Prof. Judith Prochaska.
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