José Leopoldo
Ferreira
Antunes
UNEMPLOYMENT AND HEALTH STATUS IN EUROPE
This study aimed at documenting the recent evolution of
unemployment in Europe, and its association with several health
characteristics. The “European health for all database” supplied
country-level yearly averages of unemployment ratios from 1990 to 2002, and
current information on socio-economic and health
status.
Estimation of
trends
used the
auto
regression procedure of exact maximum-likelihood estimation for time-series
analysis.
Central
and eastern Europe and newly independent states experienced higher current
levels of unemployment ratio than richer European Union and Nordic
countries. Increasing unemployment
trends
in the former
set
of countries contrasted with the decline in the latter. The annual percent
increase of unemployment in European countries associated significantly with
socio-economic and health indices. Poorer European countries had increasing
unemployment concurrent with worse health profile. This is a
major
feature of
social
injustice imbricated in health inequalities, which must be taken into
account during the enlargement process of the European Union.
Key words:
unemployment; Europe; health
status;
World health
