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本篇文章取材自RegisteredNursing這個部落格

From 1999 to 2016, the suicide rate in the United States increased by a troubling 30%. What's more, there is a clear gender divide in the prevalence of suicide in the United States-men commit suicide at more than three times a higher rate than women.

在1999至2016這短短的二十年間, 美國本土的自殺率就增加了30%, 更有甚者, 性別間的自殺率有著明顯的差異-男性的自殺率相當於女性的四倍之多。

The CDC recently released a report showing the suicide rates of various professions in 2015. Given that job and money trouble ranks among the leading causes of suicide, along with Priceonomics customer RegisteredNursing.org, we thought we'd dive deeper into the data and calculate which professions have the highest and lowest suicide rates and how it varies by gender.

美國疾病管制與預防中心(CDC)最近公布了2015年就業人口的自殺率, 有鑑於各職業所對應的壓力及薪水各異, 所以我們會根據RegisteredNursing(一個醫療網站)所提供的初步資料, 做進一步的分析, 並從中找出個別職業以及各性別的自殺率

近年來, 美國境內就業人口的自殺率節節攀升

We found that the profession with the highest suicide rate is Construction and Extraction, with 52.1 deaths by suicide per 100,000 professionals, a rate that is over 200% higher than the average profession. By a large margin, the profession with the lowest suicide rate is Education, Training, and Library with a suicide rate of 5.3%, nearly 10 times lower than that of construction/extraction professionals.

在本次的調查中發現,  營建業及採礦業的從業人員平均每十萬人就有多達52.1個人自殺, 以約為平均自殺人次的兩倍名列所有職業的首位, 而排名最末的則是教育, 職業訓練及圖書館相關的行業-每10萬名僅有5.3位自殺, 幾乎為前者的十分之一

Additionally, in this data set, the suicide rate for males is 26.0 per 100,000 professionals compared to 7.1 for women. In fact, for all professions we looked at, men had a higher suicide rate.

另一方面, 單從性別的角度來看, 就業人口中男性的自殺率約為女性的三倍以上：每10萬名男性大約有26位自殺, 而女性僅有7.1位。

男性的自殺率為女性的三倍左右

Before diving into the results, it is worth spending a moment on describing the CDC data we use for calculations. While the report from the CDC was recently released in November of 2018, the most recent time period it covers is 2015. And is just from 22 states.

在深入探討結果之前, 先來看看本次調查所使用的方式以及資料來源: 雖說CDC是在上個月(2018年11月)公布自殺率的報告, 但已經是三年以前22個州(全美共有50州)的資料了

Perhaps most important to note is that the CDC provides suicide data at the highest level of "major occupational group." This splits the entire US workforce into just 22 occupations. As a result, many different sub-occupations are lumped together in just one occupation (for example, nursing, doctors, and dentists are all in one occupation).

儘管並不是近年的資料來源而影響了參考價值, 但CDC所提供的是以"主要職業別"為基準的資料-也就是將美國勞動力分成22個職業, 換句話說, 這樣的分類較為簡單明瞭, 所以依然有其價值所在(例如: CDC將護理人員, 醫生及牙醫歸類在同一個職業別)

Across this data set of 22 occupations in 22 states, the suicide rate in 2015 was 16.9 deaths per 100,000 people, an increase of 10% from 2012.

綜觀本次橫跨22州及22個職業別的統計, 2015年每十萬人約有16.9人自殺, 相較於2012年有10%的成長

The next chart shows the suicide rate in 2015, split by major occupation group. While 16.9 is the average suicide rate, the rate varies substantially by occupation.

下方為2015年各職業別的自殺率, 從表中可以發現, 雖然平均的自殺率(以每十萬人作為計算標準)為16.9, 但各職業的差距極大

表一: 各職業別的自殺率

資料來源: 2018年美國疾病管制與預防中心(CDC)的自殺率報告(2015年)

The occupation with the highest suicide rate is Construction and Extraction with 52.1 deaths per 100,000 people, nearly 40% higher than the occupation with the second highest suicide rate. The occupation with the lowest suicide rate is Education, Training and Library with a 5.3 suicide rate compared to 16.9 for the national average.

自殺率最高的是營建及採礦業, 每10萬人就有多達52.1人自殺, 幾乎是比第二名還多出40%, 而最低的職業則是教育, 職業訓練及圖書館相關行業, 其自殺率僅約為平均的三分之一

Health care practitioners and health care support professions see 11 to 12.5 rate per 100,000; this includes nursing professionals.

而醫護相關行業(包含護理人員)的自殺率約落在11到12.5之間(每十萬人)

Do lower paying jobs tend to have higher suicide rates? We next juxtaposed BLS salary data by occupation group with the CDC suicide rates.

那麼從上述的資料來看, 好像薪水越低的工作就有越高的自殺率, 但真的是如此嗎? 所以接下來會把CDC所提供的自殺率報告與美國勞工統計局(BLS, bureau of labor statistics)的薪資統計做對照

表二: 各職業的自殺率及對應的薪水

資料來源: RegisteredNursing.org

In general, there is a small trend that higher paying jobs tend to have lower suicide rates, but the data is too noisy to make a conclusion. Additionally, some of the occupations with the highest suicide rates have salaries comparable to ones with much lower suicide rates. However, none of the highest paying occupations are also ones with high suicide rates, hinting there might be the relationship between pay and suicide rates worth exploring with more data.

從表二可以看出, 似乎有薪水越高的從業人員, 其自殺率就越低的趨勢, 但不明顯(相關係數為-0.156, 為低度負相關)且需要更多的資料佐證- 自殺率偏高的職業中不一定就代表薪水都偏低, 不過至少有一點可以確定的是: 沒有一個偏高薪的工作所對應的自殺率是高的

The last time the CDC published this suicide rate by profession data was from 2012. How have things changed between then and 2015?The next chart rankings occupations by their increase (or decrease) in suicide rates during this year period:

我們來看看過往CDC的相關資料, 上次CDC在作這樣的資料統計是在2012年, 那麼這兩份資料有什麼差別呢? 在下方筆者會統整出這兩者資料的數據差異: 到底12到15年間的自殺率增加(或減少)的幅度為何? 增加幅度最大的職業又是哪一個呢?

表三: 2012與2015年間的自殺率成長幅度

資料來源: RegisteredNursing.org

Given that overall suicide rates increased 10% between 2012 and 2015, it's not surprising that most of these occupations have had an increase in suicide rates. Nevertheless, a number of occupation have had increases in suicide rates far in excess of the national average; Food Preparation and Serving has seen an increase of nearly 50% and Arts Design, Entertainment, Sports and Media almost 40%.

就這三年間的自殺率成長10%來看, 上表中大部分的職業自殺率有所增加其實並不意外。不過, 有些職業的成長幅度實在是太大了, 像是食品製備及配送增加了50%, 而藝術設計, 娛樂, 體育, 傳播媒體則有約40%的增長

Any analysis of suicide rates without discussing gender differences will be remiss in overlooking an important point: male dominated industries will have higher suicide rates because men have higher suicide rates than women. The following chart shows suicide rate by gender in 2015 across all occupations.

不過, 前面的分析並沒有將性別列入考量: 男性居多的產業, 其自殺率會比較高, 這是因為男性的自殺率比女性來得高的關係-在下表我們會列出職場上生理男性與女性的自殺率

表四: 生理男性及女性的自殺率

資料來源: 2018年CDC統計2015年美國境內22州的自殺率

Men across all occupations have a suicide rate of 26.0 per 100,000 people, three times more than females. So are occupations with high suicide rates just an indication that there are a high percentage of men in that labor pool? Not exactly.

所有從業人員中, 每十萬的生理男性就有26人自殺, 幾乎是生理女性的三至四倍之間, 那麼有高自殺率的產業中男性就業人口比例就比較多嗎? 事實上, 並非如此

If we break down the suicide rate for each occupation by gender, we notice that even for the same occupation men have a substantially higher suicide rate than women.

如果從每個職業中各性別的自殺率來看, 我們發現所有職業的男性自殺率都比女性來得多, 而且有相當大的差距

NR: 女性從業人數過少, 無法列入樣本計算

表五: 所有職業的自殺率都是男性比較高

資料來源: RegisteredNursing.org

For every single major occupation, men have substantially higher suicide rate than women. Not only that, but for most occupations, men commit suicide at a rate 3-5 times higher than women do. So yes, male dominated industries will have higher suicide rates than more balanced ones, but there is still variation in suicide rates by industry that is not explained by gender mix.

不論是哪一種職業, 男性的自殺率都比女性高出許多, 不僅如此, 上述的職業中大部分的男性自殺率至少等於女性的三到五倍, 因此可以說男性居多職業的自殺率都比男女比例較為均衡的職業來得高, 但我們並不能說自殺率越高的職業, 就代表男女比例越懸殊

Because of impact of gender, let's conclude by looking at which professions have the highest suicide rates for men and then also for women.

從前文中可得知, 性別可說是影響自殺率的關鍵, 所以接下來就來看各職業就業人口中男性及女性個別的自殺率

表六: 各職業男性的自殺率

資料來源: RegisteredNursing.org

Because men make up most suicides, it's not surprising that the list of professions with the highest suicide rates for men is similar to the overall list for both genders combined. In fact, the top 5 professions with the highest suicide rates for men is nearly identical to the top 5 professions with the highest suicide rates overall (though in a slightly different order).

從上表中發現其實與表一的各職業的自殺率非常相似-尤其前五名都是一樣的, 這是因為男性的自殺率遠多於女性的緣故

For women, the professions with the highest suicide rates is substantially different from the men, but in large part because the CDC did not publish the female rates for a number of professions with high suicide rates like Construction and Extraction due to low sample size in women. The following chart shows suicide rates by occupation for women, excludes those occupations:

而各職業女性的自殺率高低排名就與前者相差甚遠了, 值得注意的是, 有些職業像是營建及採礦的女性從業人員實在是太少而無法列入統計

表七: 各職業女性的自殺率

資料來源: RegisteredNursing.org

The occupation with the highest suicide rate among females is Art, Design, Entertainment, Sports and Media (this occupation ranked second among men). The occupation that ranked second among women (Protective Services) also ranked highly among men. For women, the industries of Education, Training, Library, as well as Management have the lowest suicide rates (these two professions also have low rates among men). Of note, Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance has low suicide rate among women, but it is 5 times higher for men.

藝術, 設計, 娛樂, 體育及傳播媒體類是女性自殺率最高的職業(同時也是男性自殺率的第二名), 另一方面, 女性自殺率最低的是教育訓練等文書類型以及管理相關職業-這與男性別無二致, 而儘管建築, 地面清潔及維護類相關職業的女性自殺率偏低, 但值得注意的是, 竟然只約等於男性的五分之一而已

值得注意的是, 地面清潔相關從業人員的兩性自殺率相差甚遠

In America, suicide is a rising problem, especially among men. For most professions we looked at, males commit suicide at rate 3-5 times higher than for women. While the national average is 16.9 deaths by suicide per 100,000 people, some professions have suicide rates almost three times higher than that for men. Even among a single gender, there is a huge variance among suicide rates. Higher paying jobs tend to have lower suicide rates, but low pay doesn't completely explain suicide rates since some professions have about the same compensation but vastly different rates of suicide.

從上述的內容來看, 近年來美國就業人口的自殺率日益增長-首先以性別來看, 無論是哪一種職業, 男性的自殺率至少在女性的三至五倍左右, 再者即使比較各種職業單一性別的自殺率, 都相差甚遠-似乎越高薪的工作, 其對應的自殺率就會越低, 但反過來說, 低薪的職業並不代表就有高自殺率-有些職業有相等的待遇, 但有著不同的自殺率

近年來的自殺率節節攀升, 或許找尋心理諮商是解決的方式

As death rates in America soar from the mental health issues, stress and anxiety, and the Opioid crisis, it's important not to overlook suicide is rising in America and it's an issue that we would be remiss not to address.

或許近年自殺率的驟升, 與心理健康, 壓力, 焦慮及毒品氾濫有關, 所以重視自殺相關議題, 並找出解決之道是相當重要的

後記與結論

1. 在2015年的就業人口中, 男性與女性的自殺率(每十萬人的自殺人數)分別為26.0及7.1

2. 因為男女自殺率相差甚遠, 各個職業的自殺率受到性別比例的影響很大

3. 似乎薪水越高的工作, 其自殺率就會越低, 但自殺率越高的工作, 並不代表其自殺率就越低

4. 自殺率最高與最低的職業分別為營建及採礦(52.1), 和教育, 職業訓練及圖書館(5.3)

5 .值得注意的是,  2012至2015年間的自殺率有著10%的增長, 這中間的變化值得注意及深究

6. 本次研究為美國境內22州的就業人口統計, 但美國50州以及台灣的狀況可能有所不同, 值得深入探討

本文譯自Priceonomics的The Professions with Highest (and Lowest) Suicide Rates一文, 中文翻譯僅代表個人觀點供大家參考，如有不妥處，歡迎指正