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SYKEFRAVÆR-Forskn.om årsaker til sykefrav

On the margins- Sickness absence and labour market exclusion in high risk groups. The case of Immigrants

Awarded: NOK 5.0 mill.

In one work, the starting point is the limited empirical evidence on sickness absence among immigrants indicates that non-Western immigrants have a higher incidence of sickness-related absence than natives. The purpose of this article is to examine whether health is a contributing factor to the immigrant-native sickness absence gap. The present article makes use of register data and a cross-section questionnaire survey on health. The findings in this article show that non-Western immigrants have a higher incidence of long-term sickness absence than natives. For both women and men, the differences in long-term sickness absence between non-Western immigrants and natives can be explained by poorer self-reported health among immigrants. In a second study we estimate the differences in doctor-certified sickness absence during pregnancy among immigrant and native women. We use population-based cohort study of pregnant women attending three Child Health Clinics in Oslo. After control for a set of controls, the immigrant/native differences in number of weeks with sickness absence decreased from 2.0 to 1.2 weeks. We conclude that immigrant women had higher sickness absence than native women during pregnancy. The difference in sickness absence between native and immigrant women was partly explained by poorer health. In a third study, we are analysing participants in the introduction program for newly arrived immigrants. Based on interviews with participants and staff of the introduction scheme for newly arrived immigrants, we have studied how work policies implemented across a group that has special challenges to get into the labor market, namely women with refugee background. There is much to suggest that the introduction of the program of work correction is weaker for women than for men. Women also have frequent absences due to illness in children, their own health problems and especially because of pregnancy and childbirth. This gives poorer continuity in qualifying. In a fourth study we analyse the effectiveness of dialogue based work against sickness absence among immigrant workers. In this analysis of employers? following up on sick-listed employees, using registry data we found that differences between immigrants and natives are relatively minor. However, qualitative interviews in businesses with a high level of employees from an immigrant background and high sickness absence levels indicate that following up can be more demanding when employees have a poor knowledge of the Norwegian language, limited bureaucratic competence, and a precarious position in the labour market. Still, the follow-up of sick-listed employees is not experienced as particularly difficult for immigrats. In a fifth study we analyse trends in sickness absence and general marginalization for two groups of refugees from Bosnia who came to respectively Sweden and Norway in the early 1990s. The idea is to compare two relatively similar group of immigrants who came to two different countries, each with slightly different institutions and policy for integration. Using excellent register data at the individual level from both countries, we follow the immigrants? development in the labor market and welfare system from the early 1990s to 2010. Discrimination can take many forms. Managers and employment committees may have negative attitudes to hiring someone from a different ethnic background than themselves, and this may mean that they would rather hire someone with the same ethnic background as the rest of the workforce. There are few studies analysing how such attitudes can be influenced. A key reason is that it is difficult to study attitudes with non-experimental data, therefore controlled experiments are often used. We combine this method with a field experiment on Norwegian recruits to study how attitudes can be affected by working together with someone with a different ethnic background. Preliminary results suggest that discrimination against minorities is not widespread among recruits. In a final study, we analyse determinants of sickness absence differences between immigrant and native men, with special focus on the importance of fathers? sickness absence and fathers? occupational choices. First, we establish that immigrants have higher sickness absence than natives. Controlling for differences in immigrant-native fathers sickness absence reduce the sickness absence somewhat. Still, a sizeable gap persists, which is almost closed when by controlling for fathers occupation.

In the population at large, sickness absence often constitutes a first step to an early exit from the labour market through early retirement and health-related social insurance schemes. Despite knowing that sickness absence in migrant groups is higher tha n in the majority popu¬lation, little attention has been devoted to study this. This project will deal with questions related to sickness absence behaviour of immigrants. The main questions we ask, are: Are there differences in sickness benefits consumpti on between immigrants and the majority or between different immigrant groups? If differences exist, can they be explained by health status, occupation, and job strain? How important are reorganization, displacement and closure of workplaces for the sickne ss absence behavior of immigrants? Is it true that working immigrants more often than natives have several jobs at the same time? If so, what is the effect of this on sickness absence behavior throughout their career? How dialogue-focused strategy work wi th respect to bringing immigrants back into employment? Data will mainly be analysed by using different regression methods. Furthermore, in the study of dialogize interventions we will also make use of qualitative case studies and analyses of NAV records on implementation.

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SYKEFRAVÆR-Forskn.om årsaker til sykefrav