‘I Wish There Was a Group for Spouses of Unemployed People’

The unemployment rate is ticking up, and long-term unemployment — the share of jobless people who have been out of work for six months or more — is at a three-year high . For those living in the nightmare of applying for jobs every day , only to receive a stream of rejections (mostly from AI bots, to add insult to injury), it’s devastating both financially and mentally. Wide-ranging research finds that long-term unemployment correlates with depression, anxiety, heart disease, and other illnesses. It also puts incredible stress on a marriage. For spouses of unemployed people who are suddenly thrust into the role of sole breadwinner, therapist, career coach, and cheerleader, it can be an impossible position. Here, three women — whose names have been change