About the Network
Web Site: Employment Conditions Knowledge Network
Organizational Co-Hubs: Health Inequalities Research Group (Occupational Health Research Unit), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain | Social Equity & Health Research Unit (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health), Toronto, Canada | Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Reports
Employment Conditions and Health Inequalities
Author(s): Joan Benach, Carles Muntaner, and Vilma Santana
Published: September 2007
Summary: This report looks at how employment relations, employment conditions and working conditions affect health. It begins with a description of the approaches used to explore this topic: transdisciplinary knowledge and theory building. The report provides context to the topic in the form of macro and microeconomic frameworks, and labour market histories for both developed and developing countries. Case studies of employment conditions in Sweden, the United States, Chile, Turkey, Nigeria and Ethiopia are explored. An overview of how employment and related issues, such as those of child labour, slavery, occupational health, and power relations, are implicated in questions of health is given. A Canadian study is used that suggests that health problems are more prolific among unemployed compared to employed. A second Canadian study looks at how health is affected by precarious employment. Employment relations are linked to health inequalities. The report then discusses possible policies and interventions to address inequalities, concluding with recommendations, which emphasize social welfare and regulation of labour markets. The appendices contain several topical case studies exploring employment and health issues in both developed and developing countries.
Employment Conditions Knowledge Network scoping paper
Author(s): Joan Benach, Carles Muntaner, and Vilma Santana
Published: 2006
Summary: Pompeu Fabra University, University of Toronto, Federal University of Bahia – to collect data and evidence on the relation between employment conditions and health.