1 April 2005 • The Socio-Economic Background of Health in Austria • Gudrun Biffl

The paper provides an overview of the development of morbidity rates between the early 1970s and the late 1990s. It highlights the role of the socio-economic status, in particular the employment status, educational attainment, lifestyle and income, in explaining differences in morbidity rates apart from demographic factors.

From the age of 15 onwards, the sickness rate rises exponentially with age. In 1973, women had a somewhat lower average sickness rate than men (9.8 days versus 10.3 days for men); over time, the sickness rate of women increased faster than that of men such that, by 1999, it was significantly higher than that of men (14.8 compared to 11.9 days).

The morbidity rate declines as the educational attainment level rises. The mechanisms by which education may influence health are, amongst other factors, the type of work open to people with different educational background and thus work-related wear and tear.

The morbidity rates are higher for unemployed than for employed. The group with the highest morbidity rates amongst the employed are blue collar workers, followed by civil servants. White collar workers (salary earners) in private sector industries have comparatively low morbidity rates, about the same as persons working on their own account.

There is no clear linkage between income and the morbidity rate. Only in the case of older persons one can identify a positive correlation between income and morbidity.

The paper concludes with the suggestion that synergies between employment and health policies could be achieved by introducing health awareness measures into active labour market policies and linking them with skill promotion, in addition to promoting more part-time work for long-term unemployed, thus taking into account their reduced work ability due to a weak health status.

For further information, please refer to Gudrun Biffl, E-Mail-address Gudrun.Biffl@wifo.ac.at

For the full text of this article see the Internet under http://www.wifo.ac.at