Being out of work can be advantageous for people’s physical health. Unemployed people have more time to exercise and cook at home, and less money to buy cigarettes or junk food. Studies in the United States and Europe over the years have found that when unemployment is high, people lose weight and become healthier and overall mortality rates drop.

Yet there are signs that the most recent recession might have been different.

In recent years, unemployment has resulted in an increase in body weight and a substantial decline in physical activity, one new study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, concluded. Another found a significant increase in death by overdosing on painkillers, tied to mental health conditions associated with unemployment. Economists say the differences were largely because the recession’s effects have been so long-lasting and because job losses were particularly heavy in physical labor.

So the decline of work, a defining economic challenge of our time, could have consequences far beyond the job market, affecting health care expenses and mortality rates.