Employment, class, and health, 1980-1995: An analysis of five Norwegian surveys

The article explores the relationship between health and employment over ti me and examines whether this relationship is differentiated by occupational class. The empirical analyses are based on five Norwegian surveys that are representative for the population aged 25-66 years in 1980 to 1995. Class inequalities in self-reported health among employees have been thoroughly d ocumented over time and between countries. In contemporary Norway, however, in the labour market these class inequalities appear to be eradicated. The re is, however, a significant tendency towards increased polarization in ph ysical and mental health between the population inside and outside the labo ur market. This polarization seems somewhat stronger among manual workers t han salaried employees. This indicates an increasing "healthy worker effect ", resulting in a growing proportion of workers outside the labour market. As a consequence, there are no longer significant class differences in self -reported ill-health among the employees. However, once we include the unem ployed - that is, "control" for the selection process - the well-known patt erns of class inequalities in health reappear.