Inequalities in women's and men's ill-health: Britain and Finland compared

Abstract

This paper examines inequalities in ill-health among men and women in Britain and Finland, using national survey data from the mid-1980s. Age-standardised illness ratios are compared followed by multivariate logistic regression analyses.

The degree of social inequality in ill-health for women and men is greater in Finland than in Britain. British employed women in each class report less limiting long-standing illness than their Finnish counterparts. A major difference between the two countries is the poor health of British housewives. We relate these differences to societal variations in the participation of women in paid employment. In Finland women participant fully in paid work, whereas in Britain women are more likely to be full-time housewives or part-time employees. Unlike Finland, state provisions do not support the economic independence of British women.

Structural variables, encapsulated by occupational class and employment status' are the primary factors associated with men's ill-health in Britain and Finland and also with Finnish women's ill-health. The difference between British and Finnish women is striking: class is associated with ill-health amongst women in both countries, but housing tenure and family roles are additional factors only among British women. In Britain, previouly married women have particularly poor health.

Our findings suggest that in a society such as Britain where paid employment is not universal for women, women's family roles and housing quality are associated with ill-health, but this is not the case in Finland, where women's participation in the labour market is near universal.