IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i9p4642-d544528.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Work Participation among Women and Men in Sweden: A Register Study of 8.5 Million Individuals

Author

Listed:
  • Katriina Heikkilä

    (Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Ellenor Mittendorfer-Rutz

    (Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Kristina Alexanderson

    (Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Marianna Virtanen

    (School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Eastern Finland, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland)

Abstract

Observational research studies from various countries suggest that women’s working patterns across the life course are often fragmented compared to men’s. The aim of our investigation was to use nationwide register data from Sweden to examine the extent to which generation and time of entry to the work force explain the sex differences in work participation across the life course. Our analyses were based on individual-level data on 4,182,581 women and 4,279,571 men, who were 19–69 years old and resident in Sweden in 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, or 2015. Data on income and number of net days on disability pension, obtained from multiple linked registers, were used to ascertain each individual’s main activity (in paid work, on disability pension, and not in paid work) each year. Years in paid work and on disability pension were calculated as the sums of years spent in either of these states from age 19 to 69 years. We used negative binomial regression to model the associations of generation and baseline year with years in paid work and years on disability pension. All models were run separately for women and men, with the duration of follow-up constrained to one, to account for the different follow-up times between individuals. Overall, the number of years in paid work across the life course was larger among men than women, and men entered into the workforce earlier. The difference between women and men was similar across generations and time periods. Adjustment for education, income, number of children aged <18 years living at home, country of birth, and the type of residential area had minimal impact on the estimates. Our findings suggest that women spend fewer years in paid work across the life course than men, highlighting the need for continued efforts to close the gender gap in work participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Katriina Heikkilä & Ellenor Mittendorfer-Rutz & Kristina Alexanderson & Marianna Virtanen, 2021. "Work Participation among Women and Men in Sweden: A Register Study of 8.5 Million Individuals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-11, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4642-:d:544528
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4642/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4642/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anna Baranowska-Rataj & Anna Matysiak, 2016. "The Causal Effects of the Number of Children on Female Employment - Do European Institutional and Gender Conditions Matter?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 343-367, September.
    2. Olli Pietiläinen & Mikko Laaksonen & Ossi Rahkonen & Eero Lahelma, 2011. "Self-Rated Health as a Predictor of Disability Retirement – The Contribution of Ill-Health and Working Conditions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(9), pages 1-7, September.
    3. Mai Stafford & Rebecca Lacey & Emily Murray & Ewan Carr & Maria Fleischmann & Stephen Stansfeld & Baowen Xue & Paola Zaninotto & Jenny Head & Diana Kuh & Anne McMunn, 2019. "Work–family life course patterns and work participation in later life," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 83-94, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Öberg, Stefan, 2018. "Instrumental variables based on twin births are by definition not valid (v.3.0)," SocArXiv zux9s, Center for Open Science.
    2. Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska & Anna Lovasz, 2017. "The Impact of Parenthood on the Gender Wage Gap – a Comparative Analysis of 26 European Countries," Working Papers 2017-25, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    3. Zurab Abramishvili & William Appleman & Sergii Maksymovych, 2019. "Parental Gender Preference in the Balkans and Scandinavia: Gender Bias or Differential Costs?," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp643, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    4. Levinsky, Michal & Schiff, Miriam, 2021. "Lifetime cumulative adversity and physical health deterioration in old age: Evidence from a fourteen-year longitudinal study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    5. Ang'u, Cohen & Muthama, Nzioka John & Mutuku, Mwanthi Alexander & M’IKiugu, Mutembei Henry, 2023. "Analysis of energy poverty in Kenya and its implications for human health," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    6. Tea Lallukka & Rahman Shiri & Olli Pietiläinen & Johanna Kausto & Hilla Sumanen & Jaana I. Halonen & Eero Lahelma & Ossi Rahkonen & Minna Mänty & Anne Kouvonen, 2020. "Timing of Entry into Paid Employment, Adverse Physical Work Exposures and Health: The Young Helsinki Health Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-15, October.
    7. Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska & Anna Matysiak, 2018. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty: A Meta-Analysis," VID Working Papers 1808, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    8. Joanna Jurewicz & Dorota Kaleta, 2020. "Correlates of Poor Self-Assessed Health Status among Socially Disadvantaged Populations in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-18, February.
    9. Chu, Yu-Wei Luke & Cuffe, Harold E. & Doan, Nguyen, 2020. "Motherhood Employment Penalty and Gender Wage Gap Across Countries: 1990–2010," MPRA Paper 99866, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Hanna Hultin & Christina Lindholm & Jette Möller, 2012. "Is There an Association between Long-Term Sick Leave and Disability Pension and Unemployment beyond the Effect of Health Status? – A Cohort Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(4), pages 1-7, April.
    11. Yusuf Sofiyandi1, 2018. "The Effect of Residential Location and Housing Unit Characteristics on Labor Force Participation of Childbearing Women in Indonesia: Using Twin Births As A Quasi-Natural Experiment," LPEM FEBUI Working Papers 201822, LPEM, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia, revised Jul 2018.
    12. Serhii Maksymovych & William Appleman & Zurab Abramishvili, 2023. "Parental gender preference in the Balkans and Scandinavia: gender bias or differential costs?," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1-48, December.
    13. Chiara Mussida & Raffaella Patimo, 2021. "Women’s Family Care Responsibilities, Employment and Health: A Tale of Two Countries," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 489-507, September.
    14. Jana Mäcken, 2019. "Work stress among older employees in Germany: Effects on health and retirement age," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-13, February.
    15. Kristin Lork & Kristina Holmgren & Jenny Hultqvist, 2021. "Does the Number of Reasons for Seeking Care and Self-Rated Health Predict Sick Leave during the Following 12 Months? A Prospective, Longitudinal Study in Swedish Primary Health Care," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-13, December.
    16. Chu, Yu-Wei Luke & Cuffe, Harold E & Doan, Nguyen, 2021. "Motherhood Employment Penalty and Gender Wage Gap Across Countries: 1990–2010," Working Paper Series 9446, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    17. Jonas Wood & Karel Neels & Tine Kil, 2014. "The educational gradient of childlessness and cohort parity progression in 14 low fertility countries," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 31(46), pages 1365-1416.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4642-:d:544528. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.