Does Postponement of First Pregnancy Increase Gender Differences in Sickness Absence? A Register Based Analysis of Norwegian Employees in 1993–2007

Abstract

BackgroundFrom 1970–2012, the average age at first delivery increased from 23.2–28.5 in Norway. Postponement of first pregnancy increases risks of medical complications both during and after pregnancy. Sickness absence during pregnancy has over the last two decades increased considerably more than in non-pregnant women. The aim of this paper is twofold: Firstly to investigate if postponement of pregnancy is related to increased sickness absence and thus contributing to the increased gender difference in sickness absence; and secondly, to estimate how much of the increased gender difference in sickness absence that can be accounted for by increased sickness absence amongst pregnant women.MethodsWe employed registry-data to analyse sickness absence among all Norwegian employees with income equivalent to full-time work in the period 1993–2007.ResultsAfter control for age, education, and income, pregnant women's sickness absence (age 20–44) increased on average 0.94 percentage points each year, compared to 0.29 in non-pregnant women and 0.14 in men. In pregnant women aged 20–24, sickness absence during pregnancy increased by 0.96 percent points per calendar year, compared to 0.60 in age-group 30–34. Sickness absence during pregnancy accounted for 25% of the increased gender gap in sickness absence, accounting for changes in education, income and age.ConclusionsPostponement of first pregnancy does not explain the increase in pregnant women's sickness absence during the period 1993–2007 as both the highest level and increase in sickness absence is seen in the younger women. Reasons are poorly understood, but still important as it accounts for 25% of the increased gender gap in sickness absence.

Social costs of loss in productivity-related absenteeism in Poland

“…This may be explained by the increase in the average age of mothers [36] resulting from deferring decisions about motherhood, longer duration of education and focus on a career. It should be also noted that the later age of ongoing pregnancy may result in a higher risk of complications during pregnancy [37], which entails an increase in absenteeism. Apart from the costs of pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium, the results obtained for the cost of care of a child aged up to 14 years also draw attention, Such costs reached the highest value in the age group 30-39 years.…”

Sickness absence among young employees: trends from 2002 to 2013

“…In the case of younger men, the small number of participants affected the statistical power in the analysis of the turning points in SA trends. We lack diagnostic information, which is a limitation especially in the case of young female workers, who in previous studies have been shown to have more pregnancy-related SAs than other women 16) . However, pregnancy-related absences are usually longer 16) and therefore do not explain the high number of short SAs among younger women.…”

“…We lack diagnostic information, which is a limitation especially in the case of young female workers, who in previous studies have been shown to have more pregnancy-related SAs than other women 16) . However, pregnancy-related absences are usually longer 16) and therefore do not explain the high number of short SAs among younger women. The participants in our study were municipal employees from the City of Helsinki, the largest employer in Finland.…”

“…However, according to some findings, the gender divide cannot be attributed to a tendency among women to have a less healthy working envi-ronment than men 15) , and family-related factors also show only weak associations with SA 12) . Pregnant women 16) and young women with children 17) have high SA rates.…”

Examination of the double burden hypothesis—a systematic review of work–family conflict and sickness absence

“…For instance, one finding reported that even when adjusting for a range of factors such as occupation, working conditions, somatic and mental health, this could only account for a modest portion of the gender differences in sickness absence 9 . Studies have also yielded some unexpected findings, such as younger mothers having a higher risk for sickness absence compared with older mothers, despite older birth age being a risk factor for birth complications 8 . The double burden hypothesis has been suggested as an explanation for the gender gap in sickness absence 10 , 11 …”