Health, employment, and economic change, 1973-2009: repeated cross sectional study

Minton, J. W. , Pickett, K. E. and Dorling, D. (2012) Health, employment, and economic change, 1973-2009: repeated cross sectional study. British Medical Journal, 2012(344), e2316. (doi: 10.1136/bmj.e2316)

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Abstract

Objective To see whether adverse relations between social class, health, and economic activity, observed between 1973 and 1993 and previously identified in a 1996 BMJ paper, were still apparent between 1994 and 2009 despite improvements in the general economic climate and overall population health.<p></p> Design Replication of repeated cross sectional analysis from the original paper, using the same source (the General Household Survey) and occupation coding scheme, but extended from the period 1973-93 to 1973-2009, and including women as well as men.<p></p> Subjects Men and women aged 20-59 years in each annual survey between 1973 and 2009.<p></p> Main outcome measures Change over time in class specific rates of employment, unemployment, and economic inactivity within subgroups of respondents.<p></p> Results Overall employment rates have decreased for men of working age while increasing for working age women. For men in particular, the gradient of these changes seems to depend on occupational group. Over 37 years, the differences in occupational group specific economic inactivity and employment rates between people reporting and those not reporting a limiting long term illness has increased substantially.<p></p> Conclusion Between 1973 and 2009, the relation between good health and securing and sustaining employment has strengthened for both men and women. For men, this has been due to employment rates decreasing and economic inactivity rates increasing among men with poor health. For women, this has largely been due to a general trend of increased employment and reduced economic inactivity occurring among healthier women but not in women of poorer health. Some evidence suggests that, since 2005, the relation between health, employment, and economic inactivity for women in the top two occupational groups has become more like that for men, with poor health becoming associated with reducing employment rates.<p></p>

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Minton, Dr Jonathan
Authors: Minton, J. W., Pickett, K. E., and Dorling, D.
Subjects:H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HA Statistics
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
Journal Name:British Medical Journal
Journal Abbr.:BMJ
Publisher:BMJ Publishing Group
ISSN:0959-535X
ISSN (Online):1756-1833
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2012 The Authors
First Published:First published in BMJ 2012(344):e2316
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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