Precarious Employment and Psychosocial Hazards: A Cross-Sectional Study in Stockholm County.

Precarious employment (PE) has been linked to adverse health effects, possibly mediated through psychosocial hazards. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to explore if higher levels of PE are associated with psychosocial hazards (experiences of violence, sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination, high demands, and low control) and to explore gender differences in these patterns. The study is based on survey- and register data from a sample of 401 non-standard employees in Stockholm County (2016-2017).

Childbirth, morbidity, sickness absence and disability pension: a population-based longitudinal cohort study in Sweden.

Objective: To investigate associations of morbidity with subsequent sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP) among initially nulliparous women with no, one or several childbirths during follow-up.

Design: Longitudinal register-based cohort study.

Setting: Sweden.

Inequalities in employment rates among older men and women in Canada, Denmark, Sweden and the UK.

Background: In most developed countries, governments are implementing policies encouraging older persons to work past 65 years to reduce the burden on societies related to disability benefits and pension payments. Despite this push to extend working lives, we know little about who already works past this age and any inequalities that may exist. Our study investigates the employment rates of those aged 65-75 years of age by educational level, health status and sex in Canada (CAN), Denmark (DK), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Involving the public in epidemiological public health research: a qualitative study of public and stakeholder involvement in evaluation of a population-wide natural policy experiment.

Background: Public involvement in research is considered good practice by European funders; however, evidence of its research impact is sparse, particularly in relation to large-scale epidemiological research.

Objectives: To explore what difference public and stakeholder involvement made to the interpretation of findings from an evaluation of a natural policy experiment to influence the wider social determinants of health: 'Flexicurity'.

Setting: Stockholm County, Sweden.

The recommodification of healthcare? A case study of user charges and inequalities in access to healthcare in Sweden 1980-2005.

Background: User charges in Swedish healthcare have increased during recent decades. This can be seen in terms of the recommodification of healthcare: making healthcare access more dependent on market position. This study investigates whether the increase in user charges had an impact on educational inequalities in access to healthcare in Sweden between 1980 and 2005.

Recommodification, Unemployment, and Health Inequalities: Trends in England and Sweden 1991-2011.

Recommodification, the withdrawal of social welfare, has been going on for some decades in both Sweden and England. Recommodification disproportionately affects the unemployed because of their weak market position. We investigated the impact recommodification has had on health inequalities between the employed and unemployed in Sweden and England.

Employment and income among first-time cases diagnosed with non-affective psychosis in Stockholm, Sweden: a follow-up study 2004/2005-2010.

Purpose: Non-affective psychoses (F20-F29) are serious conditions causing a high degree of disability. Loss of income and increasing costs for personal care and treatment are severe consequences following the disorders, but less is known about employment and income in different social strata. The aim was to study these conditions among persons with non-affective psychosis compared to the general population, and possible social differentials.

ALL IN IT TOGETHER? THE EFFECTS OF RECESSION ON POPULATION HEALTH AND HEALTH INEQUALITIES IN ENGLAND AND SWEDEN, 1991-2010.

This article is the first to comparatively examine the effects of two recessions on population health and health inequalities in the two historically contrasting welfare states of England and Sweden. Data from 1991-2010 on self-reported general health, age, gender, and educational status were obtained from the Health Survey for England, the Swedish Survey of Living Conditions, and the European Union Survey of Income and Living Conditions, for individuals aged over 16. Generalized linear models were used to test the effects of recessions on self-reported health and educational inequalities in health.

Do 'flexicurity' Policies Work for People With Low Education and Health Problems? A Comparison of Labour Market Policies and Employment Rates in Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom 1990-2010.

People with limiting longstanding illness and low education may experience problems in the labor market. Reduced employment protection that maintains economic security for the individual, known as "flexicurity," has been proposed as a way to increase overall employment. We compared the development of labor market policies and employment rates from 1990 to 2010 in Denmark and the Netherlands (representing flexicurity), the United Kingdom, and Sweden.

Social differentials in non-employment following hospital admission for musculoskeletal disorders in Sweden, 2001-2006.

The article studies social differentials in non-employment among individuals who had been employed in 2001 following hospital admission for musculoskeletal disorders, by gender, educational level, and country of birth, in Stockholm County during 2001-2006. Individually linked population registers on health service use and sociodemographic characteristics were used. Individuals ages 25 to 59, living in Stockholm County and having employment in 2001, were followed until 2006.

Trends in poverty risks among people with and without limiting-longstanding illness by employment status in Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom during the current economic recession--a comparative study.

Background: Previous studies have found higher employment rates and lower risk of relative poverty among people with chronic illness in the Nordic countries than in the rest of Europe. However, Nordic countries have not been immune to the general rise in poverty in many welfare states in recent decades. This study analysed the trends in poverty risks among a particularly vulnerable group in the labour market: people with limiting-longstanding illness (LLSI), examining the experience of those with and without employment, and compared to healthy people in employment in Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

How do macro-level contexts and policies affect the employment chances of chronically ill and disabled people? Part II: The impact of active and passive labor market policies.

The authors investigate three hypotheses on the influence of labor market deregulation, decommodification, and investment in active labor market policies on the employment of chronically ill and disabled people. The study explores the interaction between employment, chronic illness, and educational level for men and women in Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, countries with advanced social welfare systems and universal health care but with varying types of active and passive labor market policies. People with chronic illness were found to fare better in employment terms in the Nordic countries than in Canada or the United Kingdom.

How do macro-level contexts and policies affect the employment chances of chronically ill and disabled people? Part I: The impact of recession and deindustrialization.

Low employment rates of chronically ill and disabled people are of serious concern. Being out of work increases the risk of poverty and social exclusion, which may further damage the health of these groups, exacerbating health inequalities. Macro-level policies have a potentially tremendous impact on their employment chances, and these influences urgently need to be understood as the current economic crisis intensifies.

Effectiveness of return-to-work interventions for disabled people: a systematic review of government initiatives focused on changing the behaviour of employers.

Background: OECD countries over the past two decades have implemented a range of labour market integration initiatives to improve the employment chances of disabled and chronically ill individuals. This article presents a systematic review and evidence synthesis on effectiveness of government interventions to influence employers' employment practices concerning disabled and chronically ill individuals in five OECD countries. A separate paper reports on interventions to influence the behaviour of employees.

To what extent have relaxed eligibility requirements and increased generosity of disability benefits acted as disincentives for employment? A systematic review of evidence from countries with well-developed welfare systems.

Background: Reductions in the eligibility requirements and generosity of disability benefits have been introduced in several Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in recent years, on the assumption that this will increase work incentives for people with chronic illness and disabilities. This paper systematically reviews the evidence for this assumption in the context of well-developed welfare systems.

Method: Systematic review of all empirical studies from five OECD countries from 1970 to December 2009 investigating the effect of changes in eligibility requirements or level of disability benefits on employment of disabled people.

How equitable is vocational rehabilitation in Sweden? A review of evidence on the implementation of a national policy framework.

Purpose: Under the national framework law in Sweden, all eligible people should have equal chances of receiving vocational rehabilitation. We aimed to review the evidence on (1) whether access to vocational rehabilitation is equitable in practice and (2) whether the outcomes vary for different groups in the population.

Method: Systematic review of studies in Sweden that reported diagnostic or socio-demographic characteristics of people offered or taking up rehabilitation programmes and outcomes of such programmes for different diagnostic and socio-demographic groups.

Interference between work and outside-work demands relative to health: unwinding possibilities among full-time and part-time employees.

Background: Demands from work and home may interfere with one another and the stress engendered by that can be detrimental to health.

Purpose: To study the relationship between experienced interference and subjective health, and address the impact of unwinding on these associations.

Method: Questionnaire data from a representative sample of the Swedish population are used considering full-time and part-time employed women and men aged 25-64.

Unemployment and early cause-specific mortality: a study based on the Swedish twin registry.

Objectives: We investigated the association between unemployment and early cause-specific mortality to determine whether the relationship was modified by other risk indicators.

Methods: Female and male twins (n=20632) were followed with regard to mortality from 1973 through 1996. Questionnaire data from 1973 were used to obtain information on experience of unemployment and on social, behavioral, health, and personality characteristics.