AIM: To investigate whether family obligations influence the risk of sickness absence among female municipal employees in Sweden. METHODS: A 1-year prospective cohort study of 1464 female municipal employees <50 years of age in Sweden in 2000 was conducted using questionnaire responses and absence data from the employers' personnel records. The relative risk of having children <16 years of age in the home, marital status, household work, financial situation, working hours and work-family conflicts for repeated sick-leave spells (>or=4 spells) and long-term sickness absence (>or=28 days) were calculated by applying Poisson regression models. RESULTS: Women reporting financial strain or work-family conflicts were at elevated risk for long-term sickness absence. Having children was not a risk factor for repeated sick-leave spells or long-term sickness absence among married/cohabiting women. Single women with children had a two-fold greater risk of repeated sick-leave spells than single women without children. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the combination of gainful employment and children does not influence the risk of repeated sick-leave spells or long-term sickness absence among married/cohabiting publicly employed women. However, this was not true for single women with children, which indicates that their circumstances are particularly strained.
AIM: To investigate whether family obligations influence the risk of sickness absence among female municipal employees in Sweden. METHODS: A 1-year prospective cohort study of 1464 female municipal employees <50 years of age in Sweden in 2000 was conducted using questionnaire responses and absence data from the employers' personnel records. The relative risk of having children <16 years of age in the home, marital status, household work, financial situation, working hours and work-family conflicts for repeated sick-leave spells (>or=4 spells) and long-term sickness absence (>or=28 days) were calculated by applying Poisson regression models. RESULTS:Women reporting financial strain or work-family conflicts were at elevated risk for long-term sickness absence. Having children was not a risk factor for repeated sick-leave spells or long-term sickness absence among married/cohabiting women. Single women with children had a two-fold greater risk of repeated sick-leave spells than single women without children. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the combination of gainful employment and children does not influence the risk of repeated sick-leave spells or long-term sickness absence among married/cohabiting publicly employed women. However, this was not true for single women with children, which indicates that their circumstances are particularly strained.
Authors: Lisa F Berkman; Sze Yan Liu; Leslie Hammer; Phyllis Moen; Laura Cousino Klein; Erin Kelly; Martha Fay; Kelly Davis; Mary Durham; Georgia Karuntzos; Orfeu M Buxton Journal: J Occup Health Psychol Date: 2015-05-11
Authors: Constanze Leineweber; Maria Baltzer; Linda L Magnusson Hanson; Hugo Westerlund Journal: Eur J Public Health Date: 2012-06-08 Impact factor: 3.367