Long unemployment breeds apathy
Prolonged joblessness doesn't make people fight harder for what's left. It pushes them into apathy, so they stop using even the few opportunities still open to them.
Shrinking chances shrink ambitions
When opportunities narrow, people lower what they hope for. Lower hopes then lead them to pursue less, which narrows their opportunities further, in a self-reinforcing downward spiral.
Work gives more than wages
In industrial societies a job also supplies a sense of personal worth, a link to purposes larger than oneself, and a structure for the day and week. Losing work strips all of these away at once, not just the income.
Lost structure explains jobless distress
Much of the mental ill-health among unemployed people comes from losing what work quietly provided, such as daily rhythm and a sense of mattering. Poverty alone does not account for it.