Gender inequalities in occupational health related to the unequal distribution of working and employment conditions: a systematic review

Abstract

IntroductionGender inequalities exist in work life, but little is known about their presence in relation to factors examined in occupation health settings. The aim of this study was to identify and summarize the working and employment conditions described as determinants of gender inequalities in occupational health in studies related to occupational health published between 1999 and 2010.MethodsA systematic literature review was undertaken of studies available in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Sociological Abstracts, LILACS, EconLit and CINAHL between 1999 and 2010. Epidemiologic studies were selected by applying a set of inclusion criteria to the title, abstract, and complete text. The quality of the studies was also assessed. Selected studies were qualitatively analysed, resulting in a compilation of all differences between women and men in the prevalence of exposure to working and employment conditions and work-related health problems as outcomes.ResultsMost of the 30 studies included were conducted in Europe (n=19) and had a cross-sectional design (n=24). The most common topic analysed was related to the exposure to work-related psychosocial hazards (n=8). Employed women had more job insecurity, lower control, worse contractual working conditions and poorer self-perceived physical and mental health than men did. Conversely, employed men had a higher degree of physically demanding work, lower support, higher levels of effort-reward imbalance, higher job status, were more exposed to noise and worked longer hours than women did.ConclusionsThis systematic review has identified a set of working and employment conditions as determinants of gender inequalities in occupational health from the occupational health literature. These results may be useful to policy makers seeking to reduce gender inequalities in occupational health, and to researchers wishing to analyse these determinants in greater depth.

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

“…Menendez et al (2007), reviewing research referring to different countries from Europe to United States and Canada, outlined that the health of women is disproportionally affected by employment flexibility. Women work under temporary contracts more frequently than men, and temporary employment is more likely to have an adverse effect on them, for example in terms of mental and self-rated health (Artazcoz et al, 2007;Campos Serna et al, 2013), as well as of anxiety and depression (Callea et al, 2012). This harmful link is usually attributed to a sort of horizontal gender segregation that channels employed women into a restricted range of female occupations, also characterized by a vertical division (Artazcoz et al, 2007), i.e.…”

“…Moreover, in line with the advices of Artazcoz et al (2007) and Benach et al (2014), gender differential could be interpreted in the light of the interactions between job, family life and domestic labor. It is not surprising that, among high-middle-income countries, gender differences have been found mostly in Southern European countries e Italy and Spain in particular (Artazcoz et al, 2005;Callea et al, 2012;Campos Serna et al, 2013) e where gender inequality is still pervasive in both work and family arrangements (Del Boca et al, 2012).…”

“…Temporary work represents a transient state for young men more so than for young women (European Commission, 2013), however. The latter have a higher risk of staying trapped in the vicious cycle of temporary contracts (Campos-Serna et al, 2013;European Commission, 2013), and therefore of suffering negative consequences, also in terms of health.…”

Work stress and the risk of recurrent coronary heart disease events: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Job insecurity [58,59] and overtime work [60] are additional relevant factors in this context. Fifth, given significant gender differences in work stress [61], in the prevalence and incidence of CHD [12] as well as in the strength of effects of work stress on CHD [13][14][15][16], this issue deserves more intense inquiry. In the studies included in our review, men accounted for more than 80% of the total sample.…”

Work-related gender differences in physician-certified sick leave: a prospective study of the general working population in Norway

“…Men and women are typically involved in different types of jobs with divergent work environment characteristics; gender differences in exposure to psychosocial and physical risk factors exist, even when accounting for differences in job titles (8,13). Jobs held by men are generally more physically demanding (14), and this has been reported as a risk factor in several studies (15)(16)(17)(18). However, many female jobs are also characterized by physically strenuous work tasks, such as those found in nursing (eg, manually moving patients), and women often perform tasks that require precision and are repetitive in nature (13).…”