Health inequalities in the workforce: the labour market core–periphery structure

Abstract

Rather than between the employed and the unemployed, it seems that health inequalities prevail across different labour market groups within the employed and the unemployed. Future studies should employ a more detailed classification of employment situation.

Is temporary employment damaging to health? A longitudinal study on Italian workers

“…In terms of health consequences, a plethora of outcomes has been considered (Virtanen et al, 2005). Psychological disorder, mental distress and depression are generally amplified by precarious work (Callea et al, 2012;Caroli and Godard, 2013;Cottini and Lucifora, 2010;Quesnel-Vallee et al, 2010) from United States to Europe, except for Finnish workers (Virtanen et al, 2003). Consequences on physical health and chronic diseases are not well established, while someone finds differences between temporary and permanent employment , someone else does not (Benach et al, 2004;Virtanen et al, 2003).…”

“…Psychological disorder, mental distress and depression are generally amplified by precarious work (Callea et al, 2012;Caroli and Godard, 2013;Cottini and Lucifora, 2010;Quesnel-Vallee et al, 2010) from United States to Europe, except for Finnish workers (Virtanen et al, 2003). Consequences on physical health and chronic diseases are not well established, while someone finds differences between temporary and permanent employment , someone else does not (Benach et al, 2004;Virtanen et al, 2003). Overall, a detrimental effect of precarious employment on self-rated health has been observed in many high-middle-income countries (Caroli and Godard, 2013;Ehlert and Schaffner, 2011;Kim et al, 2008), even if this relationship has not the same magnitude or significance everywhere (Bardasi and Francesconi, 2004;Gash et al, 2007;Laszlo et al, 2010;Rodriguez, 2002).…”

“…Indeed, welfare state, labor market and family arrangements have been advocated to play a role in mediating the effects of flexible employment on individual health (Benach et al, 2014;Cottini and Lucifora, 2010). Even if evidence is sometimes mixed and inconclusive, temporary workers in Scandinavian countries (notably in Finland) do not generally present a poor health status (Virtanen et al, 2003(Virtanen et al, , 2005, as well as in the United Kingdom (Bardasi and Francesconi, 2004;Rodriguez, 2002;Virtanen et al, 2005). On the contrary, adverse consequences on health are usually depicted in Central and Southern European countries, namely France, Greece, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain (Cottini and Lucifora, 2010;Ehlert and Schaffner, 2011;Laszlo et al, 2010;Rodriguez, 2002), where the commitment of the State in these issues is weaker.…”

“…Fixed-term jobs are on average connected to relatively lower remunerations (Eurofound, 2010;Gash and McGinnity, 2007), reduced access to benefits, lack of prospects for promotion, and different power relationships or rights at work Benavides et al, 2000;McGovern et al, 2004). All these characteristics have been suggested as additional potential psychosocial and material factors that shape the negative relationship between temporary work and health Virtanen et al, 2003Virtanen et al, , 2005.…”

“…Cross-sectional studies are not suitable to disentangle selection effects (Benach et al, 2004;Benavides et al, 2000;Virtanen et al, 2003;Benach et al, 2014) and the need to rely on longitudinal data is straightforward. However, even when one adjusts for prior health status and other covariates, standard regression designs might not represent a solution (Oakes and Johnson, 2006).…”