Sickness absence and disability pension in relation to first childbirth and in nulliparous women according to occupational groups: a cohort study of 492,504 women in Sweden

Women's health at work: a qualitative study on women's health issues in relation to work participation. Experiences and perspectives from female teachers and managers in Norwegian high schools

BACKGROUND

Public health and working life are closely related. Even though Norway is one of the world's most equality-oriented countries, working life is still divided by gender. Women have a lower rate of participation in working life than men, they work more part-time and they have a higher sickness absence. Research has mostly focused on structural and cultural reasons for gender differences, rather than on the fact that women and men have different biology and face different health challenges. The aim of this project was to explore experienced associations between women's health and female participation in working life.

METHODS

Qualitative methods were chosen for investigating women's experiences. We carried out in-depth interviews with 11 female high school teachers and supplemented the material with a focus group with five managers from the same organisation. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. We used the six steps of reflexive thematic analysis for consistency in the analysis process.

RESULTS

The teachers shared a variety of experienced health issues within the field of women's health and perceived barriers in the work environment. Four main themes were identified: (1) invisibility of women's health at work, (2) complexity and lack of recognition of women's health at work, (3) women's health in work environment and (4) women's health and role conflicts. There were few contradictions between the two informant groups. We found that health, work and total life intertwine and that complexity, lack of recognition and invisibility of women's health appear at different levels in a mutual influence: for the women themselves, in the organisation and in society.

CONCLUSION

Lack of recognition and invisibility of women's health in the work environment is suggested to influence women's work participation. The complexity of female health is not captured by gender-neutral structures in the work environment meant to protect and promote employees' occupational health. Recognition of women's health in the work context can therefore contribute to a gender-equal, health-promoting and sustainable working life.

Sickness absence and disability pension three years before and seven years after first childbirth: A Swedish population-based cohort study

AIMS

There is a widely held belief, in Sweden and internationally, that women with children are more likely to be on sickness absence (SA) than their nulliparous counterparts. However, empirical findings in the field are limited and inconsistent. We aimed to explore initially nulliparous women's patterns of SA and disability pension (DP) three years before and seven years after 2009, by later parity.

METHODS

We conducted a longitudinal cohort study of nulliparous women in Sweden on 31 December 2009 (N=426,918). We compared crude and standardized numbers of SA/DP net days in the three years before (Y-3 to Y-1) and the seven years (Y+1 to Y+7) after the date of the first birth in 2010 or 2 July 2010 in the following three groups: (1) women with no childbirth during the seven-year follow-up and an additional nine months (i.e. 7.8 years), (2) women with a first childbirth in 2010 and no additional childbirth during the next 7.8 years, and (3) women with their first childbirth in 2010 and minimum one more during the next 7.8 years.

RESULTS

Women remaining nulliparous had consistently more standardized mean SA/DP days than women giving birth. Compared with women with one birth, women with several births had similar mean numbers of standardized SA/DP days during Y-3 and Y-2, more during Y+1 to Y+3 and fewer during Y+4 to Y+7.

CONCLUSIONS

In contrast to the widely held societal belief, we found that in all years women who gave birth had fewer SA/DP days than those remaining nulliparous.

Women's Health and Working Life: A Scoping Review

Women's health matters for participation in working life. The objective of this study was to explore female physiology in a work-life context and to investigate possible associations between women's health, sickness absence and work ability. A scoping review was conducted to develop a systematic overview of the current research and to identify knowledge gaps. The search strategy was developed through a population, concept and context (PCC) model, and three areas of women's health were identified for investigation in the context of work. A total of 5798 articles were screened by title and abstract and 274 articles were screened by full text; 130 articles were included in the review. The material included research from 19 countries; the majority of the studies used quantitative methods. The results showed an impact on the occupational setting and an association between sickness absence, work ability and all three areas of women's health, but a holistic and overall perspective on female biology in the work context is missing. This review calls for more knowledge on health and work and possible gender differences in this regard. Women's health and working life involve a complex connection that has the potential to develop new knowledge.

Sickness absence in relation to first childbirth in nulliparous women, employed in the education and care branches in the public or private sectors: A Swedish longitudinal cohort study

Background

Pregnancy and childbirth entail increased risks of sickness absence (SA). Many women work in education and care, two branches characterised by high SA levels; it is not known if the link between childbirth and SA in these branches differs between private and public sectors. We examined SA and disability pension (DP) in relation to childbirth among women working in the education and care branches, and if these patterns differed between public and private sectors.

Methods

We performed a Swedish register-based cohort study. Study participants were nulliparous women living in Sweden in December 2004 and employed in education or care (n = 120,013). We compared SA/DP in the three years before and after 2005 among women who had no childbirth during follow-up (B0), had one childbirth in 2005 and no more (B1), and had one childbirth in 2005 and at least one more during follow-up (B1+). Analyses were performed for all and by public or private sector.

Results

Of all studied women, 70% worked in the public sector. Women in B1 and B1+ had, except for the year before childbirth, comparable or lower mean combined SA/DP days than women in the B0 group; women in the B1+ group had, except for the year before childbirth, the lowest mean level of SA/DP. We observed no substantial differences in these patterns between public and private sectors.

Conclusions

Patterns of SA/DP among nulliparous women who did or did not give birth did not differ substantially between public and private sectors among women in the educational and care branches.

Childbirth, morbidity, sickness absence and disability pension: a population-based longitudinal cohort study in Sweden

OBJECTIVE

To investigate associations of morbidity with subsequent sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP) among initially nulliparous women with no, one or several childbirths during follow-up.

DESIGN

Longitudinal register-based cohort study.

SETTING

Sweden.

PARTICIPANTS

Nulliparous women, aged 18 to 39 years and living in Sweden on 31 December 2004 and the three preceding years (n=492 504).

OUTCOME MEASURES

Annual mean DP and SA days (in SA spells >14 days) in the 3 years before and after inclusion date in 2005.

METHODS

Women were categorised into three groups: no childbirth in 2005 nor during the follow-up, first childbirth in 2005 but not during follow-up, and having first childbirth in 2005 and at least one more during follow-up. Microdata were obtained for 3 years before and 3 years after inclusion regarding SA, DP, mortality and morbidity (ie, hospitalisation and specialised outpatient healthcare, also excluding healthcare for pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium). HRs and 95% CIs for SA and DP in year 2 and 3 after childbirth were estimated by Cox regression; excluding those on DP at inclusion.

RESULTS

After controlling for study participants' prior morbidity and sociodemographic characteristics, women with one childbirth had a lower risk of SA and DP than those who remained nulliparous, while women with more than one childbirth had the lowest DP risk. Morbidity after inclusion that was not related to pregnancy, childbirth or the puerperium was associated with a higher risk of future SA and DP, regardless of childbirth group. Furthermore, morbidity both before and after childbirth showed a strong association with SA and DP (HR range: 2.54 to 13.12).

CONCLUSION

We found a strong positive association between morbidity and both SA and DP among women, regardless of childbirth status. Those who gave birth had lower future SA and DP risk than those who did not.