Inequalities in health related to womenʹs marital, parental, and employment status—A comparison between the early 70s and the late 80s, Norway

Studies indicate that inequalities in womenʹs health are associated with womenʹs 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 womenʹs statuses have changed during recent decades in Norway. Five national surveys 1968–1991 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 focusses 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.