Suboptimal health as a predictor of non-permanent employment in middle age: a 12-year follow-up study of the Northern Swedish Cohort

Earlier research on health-related selection in the labour market has concentrated on selection of those with poor health into unemployment. The purpose of the present study was to investigate if suboptimal health also predicts non-permanent employment. A population cohort of 517 men and 477 women was surveyed at age 30 and at age 43 about their health and yearly employment. Non-permanent employment during the follow-up was assessed for its occurrence with Cox regression and for the amount (accumulation in months) with generalised linear models. Suboptimal self-rated health, sense functioning and sleep quality in women and suboptimal mood in men predicted high accumulation of non-permanent employment. By contrast, in men, suboptimal self-rated health and sense functioning predicted low accumulation. The gender differences were statistically significant. Smoking predicted high occurrence and accumulation of non-permanent employment equally in men and women, whereas no associations were seen with overweight and alcohol consumption. Selection into non-permanent employment was shown for several indicators of suboptimal health. A gendered pattern was found, with more health selection among women. The findings of this pioneering study should be tested with further research.