Life Costs in Contemporary Society: A Four-Dimensional Integrated Framework under Cumulative Disadvantage
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Contemporary life is increasingly shaped by rising living expenses, debt pressure, long working hours, commuting burdens, chronic stress, sleep problems, and fragile social relationships. Existing studies often examine these issues separately through concepts such as financial stress, time poverty, health burden, or work–family conflict, leaving limited integration of how these burdens operate together. This academic article proposes a four-dimensional framework of life costs covering financial, temporal, health, and relational burdens. The framework explains how these burdens accumulate and overlap across the life course under the process of cumulative advantage and disadvantage. By synthesizing interdisciplinary literature, the article identifies mechanisms through which interconnected burdens reinforce one another and affect subjective well-being, economic security, mental health, and life opportunities. The article also discusses policy implications for middle-income countries, particularly Thailand, and argues for multidimensional measures to reduce life costs and develop integrated measurement tools for evidence-based public policy.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
บทความที่ได้รับการตีพิมพ์เป็นลิขสิทธิ์ของวารสารมนุษยศาสตร์และสังคมศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยอุบลราชธานี
ข้อความที่ปรากฏในบทความแต่ละเรื่องในวารสารวิชาการเล่มนี้เป็นความคิดเห็นส่วนตัวของผู้เขียนแต่ละท่านไม่เกี่ยวข้องกับมหาวิทยาลัยอุบลราชธานี และคณาจารย์ท่านอื่นๆในมหาวิทยาลัยฯ แต่อย่างใด ความรับผิดชอบองค์ประกอบทั้งหมดของบทความแต่ละเรื่องเป็นของผู้เขียนแต่ละท่าน หากมีความผิดพลาดใดๆ ผู้เขียนแต่ละท่านจะรับผิดชอบบทความของตนเองแต่ผู้เดียว
References
Barjaková, M., Garnero, A., & d’Hombres, B. (2023). Risk factors for loneliness: A literature review. Social Science & Medicine, 334, 116163.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116163
Barreto, M., Victor, C., Hammond, C., Eccles, A., Richins, M. T., & Qualter, P. (2021).
Loneliness around the world: Age, gender, and cultural differences in loneliness. Personality and Individual Differences, 169, 110066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110066
Blanchflower, D. G., Bell, D. N. F., Montagnoli, A., & Moro, M. (2014). The happiness trade-off between unemployment and inflation. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 46(S2), 117–141. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.12148
Card, D., Kluve, J., & Weber, A. (2018). What works? A meta-analysis of recent labor market program evaluations. Journal of the European Economic Association, 16(4), 894–931. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvx028
Clark, A. E. (2003). Unemployment as a social norm: Psychological evidence from panel data. Journal of Labor Economics, 21(2), 323–351.
https://doi.org/10.1086/345560
Clark, A. E. (2018). Four decades of the economics of happiness: Where next? Review of Income and Wealth, 64(2), 245–269. https://doi.org/10.1111/roiw.12379
Dannefer, D. (2003). Cumulative advantage/disadvantage and the life course: Cross-fertilizing age and social science theory. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 58(6), S327–S337. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.6.S327
Di Tella, R., MacCulloch, R. J., & Oswald, A. J. (2001). Preferences over inflation and unemployment: Evidence from surveys of happiness. American Economic Review, 91(1), 335–341. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.91.1.335
Filomena, M. (2024). Unemployment scarring effects: An overview and meta-analysis of empirical studies. Italian Economic Journal, 10(2), 459–518.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40797-023-00232-3
Fors Connolly, F., & Gärling, T. (2022). Mediators of differences between employed and unemployed in life satisfaction and emotional well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23(4), 1637–1651. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00471-z
Friehe, T., & Pfeifer, C. (2025). Unemployment’s life-satisfaction cost and loneliness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 26(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00941-0
Frijters, P., Clark, A. E., Krekel, C., & Layard, R. (2020). A happy choice: Wellbeing as the goal of government. Behavioural Public Policy, 4(2), 126–165.
https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2019.39
Goebel, J., Grabka, M. M., Liebig, S., Kroh, M., Richter, D., Schröder, C., & Schupp, J. (2019). The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, 239(2), 345–360. https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2018-0022
Guan, N., Guariglia, A., Moore, P., Xu, F., & Al-Janabi, H. (2022). Financial stress and depression in adults: A systematic review. PLOS ONE, 17(2), e0264041. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264041
Hahn, E., Specht, J., Gottschling, J., & Spinath, F. M. (2015). Coping with unemployment: The impact of unemployment duration and personality on trajectories of life satisfaction. European Journal of Personality, 29(6), 635–646.
https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2025
Hamermesh, D. S. (2020). Life satisfaction, loneliness and togetherness, with an application to Covid-19 lockdowns. Review of Economics of the Household, 18(4), 983–1000. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-020-09471-2
Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). Loneliness matters: A theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 40(2), 218–227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-010-9210-8
Helliwell, J. F., & Huang, H. (2014). New measures of the costs of unemployment: Evidence from the subjective well-being of 3.3 million Americans. Economic Inquiry, 52(4), 1485–1502. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12101
Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., Baker, M., Harris, T., & Stephenson, D. (2015). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 227–237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614568352
Hong, J. H., Nakamura, J. S., Sahakari, S. S., Chopik, W. J., Shiba, K., VanderWeele, T. J., & Kim, E. S. (2024). The silent epidemic of loneliness: Identifying the antecedents of loneliness using a lagged exposure-wide approach. Psychological Medicine, 54(5), 1519–1532. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291721005371
Hughes, M. E., Waite, L. J., Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2004). A short scale for measuring loneliness in large surveys: Results from two population-based studies. Research on Aging, 26(6), 655–672. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027504268574
Hutten, E., Jongen, E. M. M., Hajema, K., Ruiter, R. A. C., Hamers, F., & Bos, A. E. R. (2022). Risk factors of loneliness across the life span. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(5), 1482–1507. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211059193
Hyde, E., Greene, M. E., & Darmstadt, G. L. (2020). Time poverty: Obstacle to women’s human rights, health and sustainable development. Journal of Global Health, 10(2), 020313. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.10.020313
Kim, K. (2025). Impacts of extended unemployment on life satisfaction of young adults through social exclusion and loneliness: Moderating roles of parental socioeconomic status. Social Indicators Research, 176(1), 309–335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-024-03465-x
Barjaková, M., Garnero, A., & d’Hombres, B. (2023). Risk factors for loneliness: A literature review. Social Science & Medicine, 334, 116163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116163
Barreto, M., Victor, C., Hammond, C., Eccles, A., Richins, M. T., & Qualter, P. (2021). Loneliness around the world: Age, gender, and cultural differences in loneliness. Personality and Individual Differences, 169, 110066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110066
Blanchflower, D. G., Bell, D. N. F., Montagnoli, A., & Moro, M. (2014). The happiness trade-off between unemployment and inflation. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 46(S2), 117–141. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.12148
Card, D., Kluve, J., & Weber, A. (2018). What works? A meta-analysis of recent labor market program evaluations. Journal of the European Economic Association, 16(4), 894–931. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvx028
Clark, A. E. (2003). Unemployment as a social norm: Psychological evidence from panel data. Journal of Labor Economics, 21(2), 323–351. https://doi.org/10.1086/345560
Clark, A. E. (2018). Four decades of the economics of happiness: Where next? Review of Income and Wealth, 64(2), 245–269. https://doi.org/10.1111/roiw.12379
Dannefer, D. (2003). Cumulative advantage/disadvantage and the life course: Cross-fertilizing age and social science theory. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 58(6), S327–S337. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.6.S327
Di Tella, R., MacCulloch, R. J., & Oswald, A. J. (2001). Preferences over inflation and unemployment: Evidence from surveys of happiness. American Economic Review, 91(1), 335–341. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.91.1.335
Filomena, M. (2024). Unemployment scarring effects: An overview and meta-analysis of empirical studies. Italian Economic Journal, 10(2), 459–518. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40797-023-00232-3
Fors Connolly, F., & Gärling, T. (2022). Mediators of differences between employed and unemployed in life satisfaction and emotional well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23(4), 1637–1651. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00471-z
Friehe, T., & Pfeifer, C. (2025). Unemployment’s life-satisfaction cost and loneliness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 26(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00941-0
Frijters, P., Clark, A. E., Krekel, C., & Layard, R. (2020). A happy choice: Wellbeing as the goal of government. Behavioural Public Policy, 4(2), 126–165. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2019.39
Goebel, J., Grabka, M. M., Liebig, S., Kroh, M., Richter, D., Schröder, C., & Schupp, J. (2019). The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, 239(2), 345–360. https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2018-0022
Guan, N., Guariglia, A., Moore, P., Xu, F., & Al-Janabi, H. (2022). Financial stress and depression in adults: A systematic review. PLOS ONE, 17(2), e0264041. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264041
Hahn, E., Specht, J., Gottschling, J., & Spinath, F. M. (2015). Coping with unemployment: The impact of unemployment duration and personality on trajectories of life satisfaction. European Journal of Personality, 29(6), 635–646. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2025
Hamermesh, D. S. (2020). Life satisfaction, loneliness and togetherness, with an application to Covid-19 lockdowns. Review of Economics of the Household, 18(4), 983–1000. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-020-09471-2
Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). Loneliness matters: A theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 40(2), 218–227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-010-9210-8
Helliwell, J. F., & Huang, H. (2014). New measures of the costs of unemployment: Evidence from the subjective well-being of 3.3 million Americans. Economic Inquiry, 52(4), 1485–1502. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12101
Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., Baker, M., Harris, T., & Stephenson, D. (2015). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 227–237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614568352
Hong, J. H., Nakamura, J. S., Sahakari, S. S., Chopik, W. J., Shiba, K., VanderWeele, T. J., & Kim, E. S. (2024). The silent epidemic of loneliness: Identifying the antecedents of loneliness using a lagged exposure-wide approach. Psychological Medicine, 54(5), 1519–1532. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291721005371
Hughes, M. E., Waite, L. J., Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2004). A short scale for measuring loneliness in large surveys: Results from two population-based studies. Research on Aging, 26(6), 655–672. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027504268574
Hutten, E., Jongen, E. M. M., Hajema, K., Ruiter, R. A. C., Hamers, F., & Bos, A. E. R. (2022). Risk factors of loneliness across the life span. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(5), 1482–1507. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211059193
Hyde, E., Greene, M. E., & Darmstadt, G. L. (2020). Time poverty: Obstacle to women’s human rights, health and sustainable development. Journal of Global Health, 10(2), 020313. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.10.020313
Kim, K. (2025). Impacts of extended unemployment on life satisfaction of young adults through social exclusion and loneliness: Moderating roles of parental socioeconomic status. Social Indicators Research, 176(1), 309–335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-024-03465-x
Kunze, L., & Suppa, N. (2017). Bowling alone or bowling at all? The effect of unemployment on social participation. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 133, 213–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2016.11.012
Lawson, G., et al. (2023). Experiencing the cost-of-living crisis: The impact on mental health and wellbeing in Great Britain. ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health, King’s College London.
Leopold, L., Leopold, T., & Lechner, C. M. (2017). Do immigrants suffer more from job loss? Unemployment and subjective well-being in Germany. Demography, 54(1), 231–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-016-0539-x
Lepinteur, A., Clark, A. E., Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A., Piper, A., Schröder, C., & D’Ambrosio, C. (2022). Gender, loneliness and happiness during COVID-19. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 101, 101952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2022.101952
Longhi, S., Nandi, A., Bryan, M., Connolly, S., & Gedikli, C. (2024). Life satisfaction and unemployment: The role of gender attitudes and work identity. Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 71(2), 219–236. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjpe.12363
Luhmann, M., & Schupp, J. (2015). Loneliness Scale–SOEP (LS-S). In C. J. Kemper, E. Brähler, & M. Zenger (Eds.), Psychologische und sozialwissenschaftliche Kurzskalen: Standardisierte Erhebungsinstrumente für Wissenschaft und Praxis (pp. 192–193). Medizinisch Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft.
Luo, J. (2020). A pecuniary explanation for the heterogeneous effects of unemployment on happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21(7), 2603–2628. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00198-4
MacKerron, G. (2012). Happiness economics from 35,000 feet. Journal of Economic Surveys, 26(4), 705–735. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2010.00672.x
Maes, M., Qualter, P., Lodder, G. M. A., & Mund, M. (2022). How (not) to measure loneliness: A review of the eight most commonly used scales. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(17), 10816. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710816
Martella, D., & Maass, A. (2000). Unemployment and life satisfaction: The moderating role of time structure and collectivism. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30(5), 1095–1108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2000.tb02512.x
Mental Health Foundation. (2023). Mental health and the cost-of-living crisis: Another pandemic in the making? Mental Health Foundation.
Morrish, N., & Medina-Lara, A. (2021). Does unemployment lead to greater levels of loneliness? A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 287, 114339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114339
Nurius, P. S., Prince, D. M., & Rocha, A. (2015). Cumulative disadvantage and youth well-being: A multi-domain examination with life course implications. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 32(6), 567–576. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-015-0396-2
Osborne, E., Hassell, C., Martin, G., & Cochrane, A. (2018). Testing of loneliness questions in surveys: Overview of our loneliness question testing, methodology and findings. Office for National Statistics.
Pohlan, L. (2019). Unemployment and social exclusion. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 164, 273–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2019.06.006
Rinne, U., & Schneider, H. (2017). The labor market in Germany, 2000–2016. IZA World of Labor, 379. https://doi.org/10.15185/izawol.379
Rodgers, Y. V. D. M. (2023). Time poverty: Conceptualization, gender differences, and policy solutions. Social Philosophy and Policy, 40(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0265052522000172
Rözer, J. J., Hofstra, B., Brashears, M. E., & Volker, B. (2020). Does unemployment lead to isolation? The consequences of unemployment for social networks. Social Networks, 63, 100–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2020.06.002
Scheidegger, A., Nestor, K., et al. (2023). Financial toxicity among cancer survivors: A conceptual model based on a feedback perspective. Supportive Care in Cancer, 31, 618. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-08066-x
Strazdins, L., Welsh, J., Korda, R., Broom, D., & Paolucci, F. (2016). Not all hours are equal: Could time be a social determinant of health? Sociology of Health & Illness, 38(1), 21–42. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12300
Suppa, N. (2021). Unemployment and subjective well-being. In K. F. Zimmermann (Ed.), Handbook of labor, human resources and population economics (pp. 1–32). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_196-1
Von Scheve, C., Esche, F., & Schupp, J. (2017). The emotional timeline of unemployment: Anticipation, reaction, and adaptation. Journal of Happiness Studies, 18(4), 1231–1254. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9773-6
Winkelmann, L., & Winkelmann, R. (1998). Why are the unemployed so unhappy? Evidence from panel data. Economica, 65(257), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0335.00111
Winkelmann, R. (2014). Unemployment and happiness. IZA World of Labor, 94. https://doi.org/10.15185/izawol.94
