The Socio-Economic Background of Health in Austria. With Special Emphasis on the Role of the Employment Status

Gudrun Biffl
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Gudrun Biffl: WIFO

Austrian Economic Quarterly, 2005, vol. 10, issue 1, pages 40-54

Abstract: There are considerable differences in the incidence of sickness, the pattern of diseases and the duration of episodes of sickness by age, gender, education, and employment status. The employed have a significantly better health record than the unemployed. The analysis of health data of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) and micro-census data suggest that this is at least partly the result of explicit screening of the employed by their health record. In the wake of micro-economic reform, structural change and cyclical downturns, persons with a bad health record are amongst the first to be made redundant. In addition, unemployment per se may act as a psychological stress factor and through that mechanism exacerbate health problems. This fact has to be taken into account when drawing up measures to reintegrate unemployed, particularly long-term unemployed persons, into the labour market.

Keywords: health; and; employment; status; socio-economic; determinants; of; health; austria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
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