title: Unemployment transitions and self-rated health in Europe: A longitudinal analysis of EU-SILC from 2008 to 2011.
abstract: The Great Recession of 2008 has led to elevated unemployment in Europe and thereby revitalised the question of causal health effects of unemployment. This article applies fixed effects regression models to longitudinal panel data drawn from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for 28 European countries from 2008 to 2011, in order to investigate changes in self-rated health around the event of becoming unemployed. The results show that the correlation between unemployment and health is partly due to a decrease in self-rated health as people enter unemployment. Such health changes vary by country of domicile, and by individual age; older workers have a steeper decline than younger workers. Health changes after the unemployment spell reveal no indication of adverse health effects of unemployment duration. Overall, this study indicates some adverse health effects of unemployment in Europe--predominantly among older workers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 4, St. Olavs plass, NO-0130 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: anne-grete.toge@hioa.no.
authors.forename: Anne Grete
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Tøge
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Agder, P.O. Box 422, 4604 Kristiansand, Norway. Electronic address: morten.blekesaune@uia.no.
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blekesaune
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014478:Unemployment / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Fixed effects analysis; Health inequalities; Self-reported health; Unemployment