Abstract
Employment and working conditions are key social determinants of health, yet current information is lacking regarding relationships between foreign background status, working conditions and health among workers in Sweden. This study utilized cross-sectional data from the 2010 Swedish Level of Living Survey (LNU) and the Level of Living Survey for Foreign Born Persons and their Children (LNU-UFB) to assess whether or not health inequalities exist between native Swedish and foreign background workers and if exposure to adverse psychosocial and physical working conditions contributes to the risk for poor health among foreign background workers. A sub-sample of 4,021 employed individuals aged 18–65 was analyzed using logistic regression. Eastern European, Latin American and Other Non-Western workers had an increased risk of both poor self-rated health and mental distress compared to native Swedish workers. Exposure to adverse working conditions only minimally influenced the risk of poor health. Further research should examine workers who are less integrated or who have less secure labor market attachments and also investigate how additional working conditions may influence associations between health and foreign background status.
Highlights
Recent studies have suggested that socioeconomic health inequalities are increasing across Europe and in the United States [1,2]
Latin American workers reported the highest proportion of low workplace social support (31.7%)
Findings suggested that: (1) exposure to adverse working conditions varied by region of origin; (2) health inequalities were present between Native Swedish and some groups of foreign born workers; and (3) exposure to adverse psychosocial and physical working conditions had only a minimal influence on the increased risk for poor health found among some foreign born employees
Summary
Recent studies have suggested that socioeconomic health inequalities are increasing across Europe and in the United States [1,2]. Several studies have suggested that health inequalities in Sweden may exist by migration background status, with foreign born persons often experiencing poorer health outcomes and higher mortality rates than the native born population [13,14,15,16,17,18]. The roles that migration and ethnicity play in the formation and maintenance of health inequalities have often been overshadowed in European health equity research by socioeconomic determinants of health [23], and limited knowledge exists regarding migration related factors that may contribute to the health differentials found among foreign background groups
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