A new independent study for the European Commission says that the principal
factors influencing patterns of mortality andlife expectancy in the
European Union and United States relateto economic trends,
especially employment rates and economicgrowth.
Despite well known health risksergonomic
factors, chemical toxins, dangerous equipment, and environmental pollutionin
certainwork settings, the report notes that the move towards full
employmentand in particular the upward trend in the number of women
workingare important sources of decreasedmortality.
The report shows that decreased mortality can be seen in some European
countries in the same year that employment increasesand in other
countries within 24-48 months. Moreover, the beneficialimpact on
mortality of more people in work can be measured fora furtherdecade.
The converse is equally true. The higher that unemployment is in a given
year, the higher the mortality will be over the nextdecade.
Drawing on quantitative historical analyses of data from the second world war
to the present, the report's main conclusionis that the growth in
per capita wealth in western Europe is theprincipal long term factor
in the decline in mortality. But itadds that unemployment rates
exert an independent and damagingeffect on national
health.
It uses cross sectional studies on unemployment rates and mortality,
comparing certain British counties with US states, toshow that the
two phenomena are closely related.
(Credit: REX)
Women work alongside men in the Belgian
riot squad
Footnotes
The report, Unemployment, Employment and Public Health, can be
obtained by writing to
els.van-winckel@cec.eu.int
ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"