Cause-specific mortality among unemployment in Finland 1996-2007

Tiina Pensola, Rehabilitation Foundation, Finland
Katja Kesseli, Rehabilitation Foundation, Finland
Hanna Rinne, Rehabilitation Foundation, Finland

Research from different countries and different periods has shown that mortality is higher in the unemployed population than in people at work. It has been shown that this association between unemployment and elevated mortality is related to the experience of unemployment and related factors that have a direct effect on the risk of death. Some of the factors at play are related both to the risk of unemployment and the risk of death; one example is poor health. Furthermore, these factors may be related not only to job loss, but also to the duration of unemployment. Prolonged unemployment has been found to increase mortality even years after the unemployment episode. The aim of this study is to analyse cause-specific mortality among unemployed men and women in Finland in 1996-2007. The data consist of longitudinal data from censuses and different registers. It covers all Finnish persons who at the end of 1995 or 2000 were aged 25-64, linked with death records by cause of death for 1996-2007. We will describe differences in mortality from various causes of death among unemployed men and women during two different economic periods. The effect of sex, age, length of unemployment, education, income, and marital status on the excess mortality is studied.