Health and Female Self‐Employment

Abstract

This study uses data from the Mature Women's Cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience (NLSLME). The sample (n=1,412) comprises self‐employed, wage‐earning, and nonemployed women whose cumulative employment is measured by employment status between 1976 and 1995 and whose health status was measured in 1976 and in 1995. Three multivariate regression models, one for each type of employment status, are used to control for sociodemographic and for other factors thought to influence health status in 1995, including health status in 1976. The study finds that unemployment resulted in a significantly negative health status in 1995 compared to women of similar age, while the effect of working for wages results in significantly positive health relative to women of similar age. Self‐employment had no statistically significant effect on health status in 1995, thus indicating that the health of the self‐employed, while better than that of the nonemployed, substantially was worse than that of wage earners.