Welfare state regimes and gender inequalities in the exposure to work-related psychosocial hazards

Abstract

Background: Gender inequalities in the exposure to work-related psychosocial hazards are well established. However, little is known about how welfare state regimes influence these inequalities.

Objectives: To examine the relationship between welfare state regimes and gender inequalities in the exposure to work-related psychosocial hazards in Europe, considering occupational social class.

Methods: We used a sample of 27, 465 workers from 28 European countries. Dependent variables were high strain, iso-strain, and effort-reward imbalance, and the independent was gender. We calculated the prevalence and prevalence ratio separately for each welfare state regime and occupational social class, using multivariate logistic regression models.

Results: More female than male managers/professionals were exposed to: high strain, iso-strain, and effort–reward imbalance in Scandinavian [adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) = 2·26; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1·87–2·75; 2·12: 1·72–2·61; 1·41: 1·15–1·74; respectively] and Continental regimes (1·43: 1·23–1·54; 1·51: 1·23–1·84; 1·40: 1·17–1·67); and to high strain and iso-strain in Anglo-Saxon (1·92: 1·40–2·63; 1·85: 1·30–2·64; respectively), Southern (1·43: 1·14–1·79; 1·60: 1·18–2·18), and Eastern regimes (1·56: 1·35–1·81; 1·53: 1·28–1·83).

Conclusion: Gender inequalities in the exposure to work-related psychosocial hazards were not lower in those welfare state regimes with higher levels of universal social protection policies.

Keywords:

• Gender
• Psychosocial work factors
• Social welfare
• Socioeconomic factors

Acknowledgements

We thank the Research Group for Occupational and Environmental Medicine in the Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care from the University of Bergen, Norway, for their valuable comments on the manuscript. We also thank Emily Felt for her contribution in reviewing the English and writing style of the manuscript. This paper will be used as part of Javier Campos-Serna’s PhD training programme and dissertation at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.