The People's Record

Suicide is a class issue!

Take a look at which occupations are high risk for suicide in the 2000s (as compared to in previous decades), as the working class experiences lower living standards, and is expected to work more hours for less money. Every aspect of our life has been under siege and this is the direct result. I’d be very interested to see numbers for the last seven years as well. 

Several occupations with the highest suicide rates (per 100 000 population) during 1979-1980 and 1982-1983, including veterinarians (ranked first), pharmacists (fourth), dentists (sixth), doctors (tenth) and farmers (thirteenth), have easy occupational access to a method of suicide (pharmaceuticals or guns). By 2001-2005, there had been large significant reductions in suicide rates for each of these occupations, so that none ranked in the top 30 occupations. Occupations with significant increases over time in suicide rates were all manual occupations whereas occupations with suicide rates that decreased were mainly professional or non-manual. Variation in suicide rates that was explained by socio-economic group almost doubled over time from 11.4% in 1979-1980 and 1982-1983 to 20.7% in 2001-2005.

By the time you get to the second chart, there are literally 0 “professionals” on the suicidal professions list. It’s 100% working-class jobs. 

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