Servicenavigation

Project Details

Back

Projekt Print View

Effect of life course transitions on health inequalities. Health consequences of changes in romantic partnership, work and employment status among men and women

Subject Area Empirical Social Research
Term from 2016 to 2023
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 314975199
 
Final Report Year 2023

Final Report Abstract

Our project aimed to understand how social inequalities in health develop over a person's life. We had two main goals: first, to learn how life events related to family and work affect a person's health, and second, to see how these events affect the health of others in their household. We used data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, which gave us a long-term view. This allowed us to provide new insights into the lasting health effects of events like marriage, divorce, and precarious jobs. Work Package 1 - Marriage and Divorce: In this part of the project, we studied how getting married or divorced impacted a person's health. We used advanced statistical methods to understand the long-term effects of marriage on health. Surprisingly, we found that the long-term health benefits of marriage weren't as strong as we thought. Divorce also mostly affected mental health in the short term, except for some groups, like childless women and those with young children, who faced long-term mental health challenges. Work Package 2 - Precarious Employment: Here, we looked at how having a precarious job, which means it's not secure, demanding, or pays poorly, affected people's health. We were among the first to study the long-term health consequences of work precarity. We found that it had both immediate and long-lasting effects on physical and mental health. This means that even if people escaped precarious employment, the negative health effects could remain. Work Package 3 - Couples and Employment: In this part, we used cutting-edge analytical methods to explore how one partner's job affected the health of both partners in couples living together. We found substantial gender differences: when women had partners who faced unemployment or job insecurity for a long time, their health suffered – whereas men were not affected by their partner’s long-term precarious employment. This was more common in couples with lower education levels, suggesting that lower economic security or traditional gender roles may increase the health risks in couples. Lessons learned: Our project showed that prolonged job insecurity and adverse employment conditions are a serious threat to people's health and their families. We emphasized that policies should not only focus on currently unemployed individuals but also on people who left insecure jobs and their families because also they can also suffer health consequences. Additionally, we found that getting married didn't always lead to better health. Certain groups, like unmarried men, lowereducated couples, and childless women, were more vulnerable to health challenges during life transitions. Our research produced new insights into how social inequalities in health can worsen due to unequal opportunities in family and work.

Publications

 
 

Additional Information

© 2026 DFG Disclaimer / Copyright / Privacy Policy

Textvergrößerung und Kontrastanpassung