Unemployment is no picnic, that’s for sure—what with the stress of worrying about how to pay the bills and how to find another job. Not to mention the blow to the ego that comes with not having steady employment.

But a new study finds jobs with low pay and high stress unemployment are actually worse for you than unemployment. The study, from the University of Manchester and published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, examines the association of job transition with health and stress. It compares the health of those who stay unemployed with those who find jobs, and examines the health impacts of good- or poor-quality jobs.

Researchers followed up with participants in the study who were unemployed during 2009–2010 over the next few years, and found that those who ended up with poor jobs had higher stress levels, while those who went into good jobs had lower stress biomarkers.