Job Insecurity in Early Adulthood Linked to Alcohol-Related Illness Later in Life

A new study finds job insecurity in early adulthood that is often linked to the “gig economy” is linked to an increased risk of a serious alcohol-related illness later in life, HealthDay reports.

People who have poorly paid, insecure and unprotected work as freelancers or independent contractors are 43% more likely to develop an alcohol-related illness in subsequent years compared with their peers with full-time employment, the study found. These illnesses include mental and behavioral disorders caused by alcohol, alcoholic liver disease and alcohol toxicity, researchers reported in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

They analyzed data on almost 340,000 participants born between 1973 and 1976 who were taking part in a long-term Swedish study.

“Young adulthood is a particularly sensitive period in life concerning the initiation and formation of health-related behaviors, such as alcohol use. Subsequently, young adults in precarious employment might use alcohol as a coping strategy for stress and form a habit of consuming larger quantities of alcohol compared with individuals in [standard employment] of the same age,” the researchers said in a journal news release.