Working Life Course Research Articles

Labor markets and health: an integrated life course perspective.

Current work and health research is fragmented, focusing on jobs, exposures, specific worker groups, work organization, or employment contracts. An emphasis on the labor market in framing the work and health relationship conceptualizes work not only as an exposure that increases or lessens health risk but also as a life course experience that is dependent on place and time. The intention is to illustrate how the labor markets and health framework coupled with a life course perspective extends other epidemiological approaches to work and health to identify new research questions. Taking the changing nature of work and labor markets into account, this paper updates the labor markets and health framework. It then reviews, defines, and integrates key life course concepts. A model is developed that guides the understanding of how labor markets and health trajectories emerge from the consideration of the working life course in a social context. The application leads to new research questions investigating characteristics of labor markets and health trajectories that may lead to positive health outcomes over the life course.

Leaving the parental home in Italy during the economic crisis

Using the data from the survey “Critical aspects in the work life course in a gender perspective” carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) before the recent economic crisis (2007) and the data from the survey “Youth Project” carried out in 2012 by the Toniolo Institute for Advanced Studies, we analysed a sample of Italian young adults aged between 21 and 29, in order to evaluate the effect of the Great Recession on the intentions to leave the family of origin. Implementing a probit model with sample selection, we found empirical evidence of a relevant impact of the economic downturn on decreasing the intentions of starting an independent life. Emiliano SIRONI, Researcher, Department of Statistical sciences, Catholic University, Milan, Italy. E-mail: emiliano.sironi@unicatt.it . Alessandro ROSINA, Professor of Demography, Department of Statistical sciences, Catholic University, Milan, Italy. E-mail: alessandro.rosina@unicatt.it .

Making the case for older workers

IntroductionLabour market age barriers are in sharp focus across most industrialized nations and in Europe and East Asia in particular as public policymakers, concerned with the economic effects of population ageing, have moved to encourage longer working lives. Many affected nations will experience a substantial ageing and, simultaneously, shrinking of their workforces, bringing to the fore the issue of managing older workers. In combination with declining birth rates, the retirement of a large cohort of 'baby boomers' is expected to reduce the supply of skilled workers, contribute to a lowering of workforce participation rates, and raise dependency ratios. Addressing workforce ageing issues has thus become critical to many of these nations' economic performance. Governments needing to improve labour force participation rates of older workers have utilized various means, such as changing employer attitudes (Sonnet, Olsen, & Manfredi, 2014).Accordingly, among most industrialized and some middle-income nations, there is public policy interest in the prolongation of working lives (OECD, 2006). Germany and Japan are noteworthy contexts where efforts are underway to foster a new working life course focused on workforce participation at older ages. In both nations, the extension of working lives to capitalize on productivity into advanced age has become central in public policy discourses and labour market measures. While the industrial structures of Germany and Japan share many similarities, the policy approaches to late- and post-career work differ, particularly in formal phased retirement, or bridge retirement, programs. Largely gone from the policy makers toolkit in Germany, as in other industrialized ageing contexts, is early retirement, which in the 1980s was a much used tool for the management of labour supply, but has now been superseded by increasing efforts to push out the final date of labour market withdrawal (Vargas, Fric, Curtarelli, Feifs, & Weber, 2013; Walker & Naegele, 2009). In Japan also efforts have been underway for some time to promote the concept of longer working lives to business (Yamada & Higo, 2015). Underpinning these shifts has been an increasing emphasis on the promotion of 'age management' (Walker, 2005).Alongside the efforts of these governments some employers, particularly large ones, are pursuing a business agenda of recruiting, retaining and rehiring older workers. This is occurring in Germany and Japan, as well as other contexts, in response to a range of factors, including but not limited to the following four, that stem from workforce ageing. Firstly, there appears to be a greater demand from older workers themselves for more opportunities to continue working for longer in quality jobs (Dittrich, Busch, & Micheel, 2011; Oka, 2013). Partly, as exemplified by the case of Germany, the desire to work on is generated by insufficient retirement incomes (Fasang, 2012), an issue that is particularly acute for older single women and one that is complicated by failing health, poor work conditions and a lack of quality jobs (Pleau, 2010; Zimmer, Leve, & Naegele, 2010). Secondly, generally improved health among older people means that they are assumed to be more readily able to continue working longer (Buckley, O'Dwyer, Tucker, Adams, Wittert, & Hugo, 2013; Zhan, Wang, Liu, & Shultz, 2009). Thirdly, advances in technology and workplace design may enable older workers, including those with a disability, to continue working to later ages (Brooke, Taylor, McLoughlin, & Di Biase, 2013). Fourthly, there is a concern among employees and their employers for greater work life balance in order to, for example, fit in caring and other responsibilities with paid employment (Loretto & Vickerstaff, 2013; Nikolova & Graham, 2014; Sweet, PittCatsouphes, Besen, & Golden, 2014).Large organizations in Germany and Japan offer best practice examples of employer behaviour in recruiting, retaining and rehiring older workers. …

A life course perspective to spinal cord injury and employment participation in Canada.

Few studies have examined life course differences in the employment of Canadians with spinal cord injury (SCI). To compare employment participation of young/middle-aged and older adults with SCI and to examine the association between employment and demographic and health factors, SCI-related needs, and social role participation at the 2 life phases. A sample of young/middle-aged (18-54 years; n = 959) and older adults (55-64 years; n = 364) with SCI was recruited as part of a larger Canadian community survey. Pre- and postinjury employment were compared. Demographic and health factors, number of unmet SCI needs, and social role participation were collected and compared by life phase and employment status. Two multivariable logistic regression models were conducted and compared for young/middle-aged and older adults. Close to one-third of participants with SCI were working post injury (32%), a decline from the 62% of respondents working prior to their injury. Participants were more likely to work in less physically demanding job sectors including business/administration or health/science/teaching. An examination of life phase differences showed that young/middle-aged adults were more likely to be employed post injury (36%) when compared to older respondents (12% employed) who were more likely to report being retired (43%). Multivariable analyses revealed that for young/middle-aged adults, being married, attaining a postsecondary education, and having fewer unmet SCI needs were related to employment. Among older adults, having a traumatic injury was related to involvement in paid work. For both young/middle-aged and older adults, participating in more social roles was related to working. A life course perspective is important to understanding similarities and differences between young/middle-aged and older adults with SCI in their employment participation. Tailored programs and policies should be designed to promote labor force involvement at different phases of the working life course.

Australasian university management, gender and life course issues

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues arising for women and men in senior management in New Zealand and Australian universities where life course and career trajectories intersect, and analyses how the stereotypical masculinist culture of universities can create additional problems for women. Design/methodology/approach – The data presented here comes from 47 interviews undertaken with women (27) and men (20) senior managers – a total of 26 interviews from New Zealand universities and 21 from Australian universities. “Senior Management” was defined in this study as those academic managers with university wide responsibilities, who were currently in senior management positions. Findings – Life-course issues for women aspiring to senior management roles in universities are framed around hegemonic constructions of masculinity; notions of academic careers subsuming personal life in professional roles; and structural constraints making rational choice impossible for many women. Furthermore, the excessive hours worked in such roles equate with the definition of extreme jobs. The paper concludes that the way in which women and men in senior HE endeavour to balance work and family life differs but creates issues for them both. Research limitations/implications – The structure and operation of Australian and New Zealand universities make gender diversity and management difficult to operationalise, given the competing imperatives of work and other life course trajectories. It is crucial to reframe life course and career intersections are conceptualised to ensure that diversity can be maximised. Originality/value – This paper focuses on women and men in senior management positions in New Zealand and Australian universities, but the findings can be generalised to other countries with HE systems based on the British University model. In discussing how institutional culture affects the intersection of career and life course trajectories, this paper highlights the detrimental outcomes for individuals and the resultant lack of diversity in the sector.

若年勤労男性の「仕事意識の良好さ」と食生活ならびに労働生活との関連―都内医療機器メーカー男子社員の事例―

The relationship was examined between a positive perception toward work and the dietary habits of young male workers to test the reliability and validity of a working life-related “quality of life” (QOL) scale. The subjects were 473 male employees in the age range from twenties to forties working for a medical equipment manufacturing company in Tokyo. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 2001, and the results were analyzed from responses provided by 61.9% of the subjects (n=293). The questionnaire covered quality of life, health condition, behavior, attitude, environment factors, dietary habits and working life factors.Three items were selected by a principal component analysis for a “positive perception toward work”. The “positive perception toward work” was scored on the scale of 4 for three items: from the most positive=4, to the least positive=1. The total mean of the score was 8.0, and Cronbach's α-coefficient was 0.68 for reliability. High concurrent validity was found by the relationship between the “positive perception toward work” score and the dietrelated and health-related quality of life scores. A path analysis presented two courses effecting the “positive perception toward work”. One was the working life course (dietary support at the workplace→job support→“positive perception toward the work”), while the other was the dietary habits course (dietary support at workplace→food consumption, diet-related attitudes→diet-related QOL→health condition→“positive perception toward work”).The “positive perception toward the work” scale could therefore be an effective measurement of working liferelated QOL in evaluating nutrition education for young male workers.

Relationship between all-cause mortality and cumulative working life course psychosocial and physical exposures in the United States labor market from 1968 to 1992.

To examine the relationship between cumulative exposures to psychosocial and physical work conditions and mortality in a nationally representative sample. A working cohort was created using the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Information on psychosocial and physical work conditions were imputed using the Job Characteristics Scoring System exposure matrix for the period 1968 through 1991 to construct working life courses. Deaths were ascertained from 1970 through 1992. Working in low-control jobs for a working life was associated with a 43% increase in the chance of death (OR, 1.43, 1.13-1.81) assuming a 10-year time lag. No significant effect was found for high-strain work (ie, high psychosocial job demands and low job control), but a relationship was found between passive work (ie, low psychosocial job demands and low job control) and mortality (OR, 1.35, 1.06-1.72). No significant risk of death was found for psychosocial or physical job demands, job security, or work-related social support. Retirement (OR, 2.85, 1.59-5.11) and unemployment (OR, 2.26, 1.65-3.10) transitions and baseline disability (OR, 1.38, 1.06-1.79) predicted mortality. The results support the importance of job control to health. The passive work effect suggests that job content may be important in shaping a worker's health over the life course. Future research should focus on modeling stressors over the life course to capture the dynamic interplay of life transitions, stressor intensity and duration and the role of health in the interplay.

Transizioni tra stati nel ciclo di vita lavorativo e mobilità territoriale: un’applicazione di dati censuari

This paper analyses the transition among professional states, entering and leaving the labour market: from school to job searching, to working activity and to retirement. Geographical mobility is also examined for those who lived the transition in working life. 1991 census data, collecting retrospective information on professional conditionand place of residence referred to 1986, allowed the construction of transition probabilities. The study concentrates on three Italian regions belonging to different geographical areas and with a different economic situation: Veneto, Abruzzo and Calabria. The results show the utility of census data in this kind of analysis and points to several interesting geographical peculiarities, especially in the working life course of young people.