The Relationship of Socio-economic Status, Labor Force Participation, and Health among Men and Women.

Using survey data from an extensive sample of Californians in the United States, we examined the relationship among indicators of socio-economic status (SES) and health for men and women in and out of the paid labor force. In contrast to data reported from the mid-1980s in which correlations among SES variables were stronger among men than among women, correlations among education, income, and occupation were similarly high among women and men. All SES variables were significantly related to health, such that as SES increased, self- reported health status increased. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated an additive effect of labor force participation and SES in predicting health among men, with main effects both of labor force participation and of income and education on health. Among women, there was an interactive effect of these variables, such that the relationship of income and of education to health was more pronounced among women who were not in the paid labor force.