A comparative study of mental health and life satisfaction in employed and unemployed woman

Introduction: Regarding to the increasing rate of women’s social cooperation, the importance of their mental health and life satisfaction and women’s crucial role in the establishment of healthy family and society, the present research aimed to compare mental health and life satisfaction among employed and unemployed women. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, 120 employed women in governmental offices and 120 unemployed women were selected through random cluster sampling. 24 of them (experimental and control groups) were selected by purposeful method. For data collection, General Health Questionnaire-28 and Diener’s Life Satisfaction Inventory were used. Data analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics through SPSS software. Results: The results showed that employed women had higher scores in life satisfaction and general health questionnaires compared to unemployed women (P 0.05). Conclusion: It seems that employee has a positive impact on life satisfaction and mental health of women so providing for women’s social cooperation and entrepreneurship in congruence with women’s status and dignity and facilitation of interaction between working and family life are recommended.