Abstract

​

Current economic and social changes restructure the world of work as we know it. Non-standard (e.g. part-time, fixed-term, marginal) employment is on the rise across Europe, affecting disproportionally the groups who are already disadvantaged, such as women, young people, and migrants. In many European countries, the collective bargaining systems and labor unions become weaker, as governments attempt to create favorable business conditions. On top of that, we are still dealing with consequences of recent economic crisis, which raised the unemployment rates in many countries. Low quality of employment, as well as high unemployment, may have negative consequences for population health, and may exacerbate health inequalities. Experience related to work (or the lack of it) as well as the low quality and insecurity of employment plausibly shape the health of current and future generations. Access to economic resources which help improving living standards and pay for goods and services that help sustaining good health, is only one of the mechanisms that link (un)employment with health. Others refer to (in-)security and work related stress. Other causal paths proposed by past studies include non-economic benefits of work, such as time structure, social contacts, collective purpose, social status, and activity. In line with these ideas, past research confirms that people who experience unemployment or work under precarious contracts tend to have worse health. However, these results often rest on cross-sectional data, which limits the possibility to address selection issues. Longitudinal studies, which tackle the relationships between (un)employment and health in a long-term perspective are still relatively rare, although high quality data are available.

This session invites papers that use longitudinal data to study the relationship between (un)employment and health. In particular, we welcome presentations that address the following questions:

1. Does the experience of unemployment and/or precarious employment affect negatively people’s health? To which extent does this effect reflect selection rather than causation?

2. Are the effects of (un)employment on health immediate or delayed? For example, do early (un)employment experiences have scarring effects on health in the old age?

3. Does (un)employment affect the health of individuals or of families? Are partners and children of the unemployed and precariously employed also affected?

4. If (un)employment has adverse health consequences, do they show up in mental or also in physical health? Are they observable with subjective, or also with objective measures?

5. Do resources (such as, e.g., financial resources, type of insurance, social support) have a buffering effect? In other words, do they reduce the negative health consequences of unemployment and/or precarious employment?

​

Session organizer(s)

​

Małgorzata Mikucka (DE) – is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Manheim (MZES) and the Université Catholique of Louvain (Centre for Demographic Research). She holds a PhD in Sociology from the Polish Academy of Sciences. Her research focuses around the question how do family life and employment experiences shape people’s subjective well-being and health.

 

Oliver Arránz Becker (DE) – is professor of sociology at the Martin-Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. His research fields are applied statistical methods for the study of dyads and families, sociology of health (e.g., identification of patient at risk for chronic pain), and life course studies, for instance, determinants of demographic behavior, including partnership formation and dissolution and fertility processes.

​