Research project Sickness absence among men and women – why does it differ?

Ill-health and rising levels of sick leave – with negative consequences for the individual as well as for society – is one of our major challenges of today. Of particular concern is the widening gap between women's and men's sickness absence from the 1980s and onwards. To end this unequal development, more knowledge about the causes of the gender differences in sick leave is needed.

Utilizing information from the late 1960s until today, we aim to study variations in the composition of the labour force and changes in the occupational structure, as well as possibly deterioration of working conditions in certain occupations.  We will further study the significance of various aspects of paid and unpaid work for the gender-specific risks of ill-health and sick leave, separately as well as in combination. Emotional labour – which is more common in female dominated occupations and in the welfare sector– as well as family care for older people are possible to consider here, which is quite unique. The family situation, as well as the division of unpaid work within couples will also be taken into account.

Longitudinal survey data (The Swedish Level-of-Living Survey) combined with administrative register data provide us with detailed information about how labour market conditions, family circumstances, household and care work are related to ill-health and sickness absence over time (1968-2010). Self-reported information about psychological and physical health and shorter periods of sick leave will be combined with register information on sickness absence. To summarize, we have rather unique possibilities to examine the relationship between different aspects of work, health, and sick leave and deepen the existing knowledge about gender differences in ill-health and sick leave.