After losing a job, first fix your daily routine, your medical insurance and your job-search rhythm, and don't stay home all day

High value
Evidence A
Buys life
Free
Takes minutes
Some willpower

If you are thinking about suicide right now, call or text 988. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

In plain words

Unemployed people are about 60% more likely to die afterward than people with jobs, more so for men and for younger people, and the risk is highest in the first ten years. When the effect of smoking and drinking is subtracted, the increase shrinks by about a quarter, and that part you can manage yourself. First register as unemployed and claim unemployment insurance benefits; while you are receiving them, your medical insurance is paid for by unemployment insurance.

Cost: Free. First register as unemployed and claim unemployment insurance benefits (失业保险金), then put the job search on a fixed schedule. The hard part is getting up on time when no one is pushing you.
What you get: 42 studies, 235 estimates of death risk and more than 20,000,000 (2000万) people were pooled. After adjusting for age and other factors, the risk of death from all causes combined for unemployed people had an average HR of 1.63, about 60% higher than for people with jobs. It was higher in men than in women. The effect was clear for people early and in the middle of their careers and smaller late in their careers. Risk was highest in the first 10 years of follow-up and fell after that. In the studies that also accounted for health behaviors such as smoking and drinking, the average HR was 24% lower, meaning the calculated increase was about a quarter smaller.
Notes: This is a study that looks back through population data, and it can't separate the direction of cause. People who are in poor health to begin with are also more likely to lose their jobs. But “the effect is 24% lower once lifestyle is accounted for” gives a place to start. For what unemployment pays, where to claim it and how to keep up social insurance, see §7. For how much compensation you should get when dismissed and why not to sign a voluntary resignation, see §19.
Evidence grade: A : Specific numbers from meta-analyses, large cohorts or randomized trials; for law and policy, the statute or official text.
Sources: Roelfs DJ, et al. (2011). Losing life and livelihood: a systematic review and meta-analysis of unemployment and all-cause mortality. Social Science & Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.01.005

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 29, tip 3. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer