Work and health inequalities

Successful labour market participation is an important aim of primary socialization and education, and decent quality of work and employment promotes economic, social, physical and mental wellbeing in adult life. These processes are structured by far-reaching social inequalities, providing better opportunities to socioeconomically more privileged population groups. In this chapter, main findings of respective research are outlined. First, social inequalities in access to, and quality of work and employment are demonstrated, based on findings from European cohort studies. A second part deals with social inequalities of highly prevalent chronic disorders, with special emphasis on the contribution of adverse material and psychosocial working conditions towards explaining these health inequalities. Finally, some important policy implications of this knowledge are discussed at the levels of companies and of national labour and social policies.