The Rhythm of Work: Health Effects of Women's Work Dynamics

Abstract

Theories on the health benefits of employment, health selection, and the stress of changes in work all suggest that work patterns should be important for women's health. Using a national longitudinal sample of women in their fifties and sixties, we examine how employment duration and transitio-ns inform these theories of physical and emotional health. Women leave the labor force because of poor health, but longer employment also provides health benefits, and some work transitions have long-term negative effects on physical health. Our findings are consistent between physical and emotional health, but employment appears to be more strongly associated with physical limitations during this life stage. These results point to the value of work-life dynamics for understanding the work-'health relationship. One of the dramatic changes during the twentieth century has been the transformation of women's paid employment. Increases in women's labor-force participation tell only part of the story; patterns of women's labor-force participation across their life course have also changed in important ways. For