Table 1.

Descriptive statistics for all study variables in the pre-recession and recession

Variables	Pre-recession		Recession		p *
Unemployment (21 to 25 years old), (n=) %
No unemployment	840	83.9	430	62.7	<0.01b
Unemployment	161	16.1	256	37.3
Functional somatic symptoms, Mean (SD)
Adulthood	986	4.24 (3.31)	671	3.94 (3.27)	0.07 a
Youth	966	2.82 (2.51)	662	3.52 (2.98)	<0.01b
Gender,(n=) %
Women	482	48.1	340	49.6	0.57b
Men	519	51.9	346	50.4
Doing what they want, (n=) %
Yes	417	42.1	248	36.2	0.02b
No	573	57.9	438	63.8
Parents’ occupational class, (n=) %
Both parents white-collar workers	300	30.0	298	43.8	<0.01b
One parent blue-collar worker	335	33.5	263	38.6
Both parents blue-collar workers	366	36.5	120	17.6
Smoking, (n=) %
No	627	63.1	448	66.1	0.21b
Yes	367	36.9	230	33.9
Living arrangement, (n=) %
Parents	349	35.1	267	40.0	0.05b
Alone, spouse or friends	645	64.9	402	60.0
Time spent in education, (n=) %
Compulsory school	127	12.8	104	15.2	<0.01b
2 years’ secondary education	487	48.9	182	26.5
3–4 years’ secondary education	264	26.5	213	31.05
Higher education	118	11.9	187	27.3
Income, (n=) %
Own income	915	91.9	212	31.0	<0.01b
Student loans	20	2.0	174	25.4
Parents or partners income	59	5.9	64	9.4
Social benefits	2	0.2	234	34.2
Cash margin, (n=) %
No	276	28.6	213	31.4	<0.01b
Yes, own assets	477	49.4	320	47.2
Yes, loan	186	19.6	90	13.3
Yes, otherwise	27	2.8	55	8.1
Outlook on the future, (n=) %
Education	267	26.8	281	41.0	<0.01b
Work	575	57.7	218	31.8
Unemployment, parental leave or other	154	15.5	186	27.2

*p-value of the difference between the pre-recession cohort and the recession cohort

^aT-test ^bChi²