Elstad J I
Institute of Applied Social Research, Oslo, Norway.
Soc Sci Med. 1996 Jan;42(1):75-89. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(95)00078-x.
Studies indicate that inequalities in women's health are associated with women's marital, parental and employment status. The causal mechanisms which generate these inequalities are linked to social change at the macro level. The present study asks whether patterns of ill-health according to women's statuses have changed during recent decades in Norway. Five national surveys 1968-91 are analyzed, using number of long-standing diseases as an indicator of health. The results indicate that health differences between full-time employed women and other employment statuses have increased during the 70s and 80s. As regards marital and parental status, the observed changes are not significant. The findings suggest that important causal mechanisms generating health differences related to marital status are located in the private sphere. The interpretation of the widening health gap between employed and non-employed women focuses both on developments which have made it easier to combine employment and family duties, on new norms which favour the self-esteem of employed women, and on health selection processes connected to welfare state developments.
研究表明，女性健康方面的不平等与女性的婚姻、生育和就业状况有关。产生这些不平等的因果机制与宏观层面的社会变革相关。本研究探讨在挪威，近几十年来，根据女性不同状况划分的健康模式是否发生了变化。分析了1968年至1991年期间的五项全国性调查，将慢性病数量作为健康指标。结果表明，在20世纪70年代和80年代，全职工作女性与其他就业状况女性之间的健康差异有所增加。至于婚姻和生育状况，观察到的变化并不显著。研究结果表明，导致与婚姻状况相关的健康差异的重要因果机制存在于私人领域。对在职和非在职女性之间不断扩大的健康差距的解释，既关注使就业与家庭责任更容易兼顾的发展变化，也关注有利于在职女性自尊的新规范，以及与福利国家发展相关的健康选择过程。
