Work and its role in shaping the social gradient in health

Abstract

Adults with better jobs enjoy better health: job title was, in fact, the social gradient metric first used to study the relationship between social class and chronic disease etiology, a core finding now replicated in most developed countries. What has been less well proved is whether this correlation is causal, and if so, through what mechanisms. During the past decade, much research has been directed at these issues.Best evidence in2009 suggests that occupation does affect health. Most recent research on the relationship has been directed at disentangling the pathways through which lower-status work leads to adverse health outcomes. This review focuses on six areas of recent progress: (1) the role of status in a hierarchical occupational system; (2) the roles of psychosocial job stressors; (3) effects of workplace physical and chemical hazard exposures; (4) evidence that work organization matters as a contextual factor; (5) implications for the gradient of new forms of nonstandard or “precarious” employment such as contract and shift work; and (6) emerging evidence that women may be impacted differently by adverse working conditions, and possibly more strongly, than men.

Arbeit und gesundheitliche Ungleichheit

“…Sie werden im Folgenden skizziert. Eine erste Erklärung hierfür liegt im Zusammenhang zwischen beruflicher Position und Bildung sowie Einkommen [12,23,24].…”

“…So ist der Bildungserfolg in vielen Ländern von der sozialen und ökonomischen Situation der Herkunftsfamilie abhängig [26]. Dies kann dazu führen, dass junge Erwachsene mit niedrigen Bildungsabschlüssen schon beim Eintritt in das Berufsleben vorbelastet sind, da sie bereits während ihrer Kindheit und Jugend mit negativen gesundheitlichen Folgen von Armut und Benachteiligung konfrontiert waren [23]. Gesundheitliche Selektionseffekte können zudem im gesamten Ver- [11,30,31,33,36,[39][40][41].…”

Tabagismo, situação no mercado de trabalho e gênero: análise da PNAD 2008

“…Os estudos têm fornecido evidências de que o trabalho e a ocupação contribuem para o gradiente da associação inversa entre inserção social e saúde. Hierarquia ocupacional, estressores psicossociais, condições de trabalho ou perda do emprego são alguns dos mecanismos por meio dos quais o trabalho pode contribuir com esse gradiente 14 . Em decorrência das mudanças socioeconômicas estruturais ocorridas no final do século passado, o impacto das formas de trabalho precárias ganhou relevância na investigação da relação trabalho e saúde.…”

Employment status and perceived health status in younger and older people with multiple sclerosis

“…The associations between employment status and the incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases and mortality have been previously discussed (Mackenbach et al, 2008;Clougherty et al, 2010). Minis et al (2010) reported that employed patients with neuromuscular diseases had better perceived health status than nonemployed patients.…”