Mer jämställt, mindre sjukskrivning?

En epideimologisk studia av jämställdhet och sjukskrivning på arbetsplatser

Abstract

This study analyses how sick leave among women and men are related to patterns of gender equality in the workplace. The study is based on register data from the Longitudinal Integration Database for Health Insurance and Labor Studies (LISA ), and includes 520 workplaces for 134 450 people. Indicators of gender equality in the workplace consist of women to men ratio in terms of number of employees, salaries, education and parental leave. Cluster analysis is used to identify patterns of gender equality. Differences in women’s and men’s sick leave are analysed by chi-square test and logistic regression analyses. The analysis compares sick leave between six clusters of workplaces with different patterns of gender equality: 1) unequal with higher scores for men, 2) majority of women and equal salary, 3) equal salary and more parental leave for men, 4) unequal with equal representation, 5) equal in divergent spheres, 6) traditionally unequal. None of the clusters were completely gender equal, but the result of the analysis shows that the most gender equal workplaces have the lowest level of sick leave. For both women and for men, the odds for sick leave are higher in workplaces with a majority of women that otherwise are relatively gender equal. For men, the odds for sick leave were higher at traditionally gender unequal workplaces. An equal representation of women and men in the workplace does not necessarily imply gender equality in other aspects such as salary, education and parental leave. More gender equal workplaces yet have lower risk of sick leave for both women and men, even though women consistently have higher rates of sick leave. A multidimensional approach to gender inequality in the workplace is important for understanding the skewed distribution of sickness absence between women and men in the general population.