The socio-economic distribution of health-related occupational stressors among wage-earners in a post-Fordist labour market

Unequal exposure to occupational stressors is a central pathway towards socio-economic
health inequalities in working populations. This paper assesses the differential exposure of
such stressors within the population of Flemish wage-earners. Our focus is on differences in
gender, age, skill levels, occupational and social class positions.
Method
The analyses are based on the "Flemish Quality of Labour Monitor 2004" (Vlaamse Werkbaarheidsmonitor
2004), a cross-sectional representative sample (N=11,099) of 16- to 65-
year-old wage-earners, living in Flanders. The investigated health-related working conditions
are: high quantitative, emotional and physical demands, frequent repetitive movements,
atypical work schedules, frequent overtime work and schedule changes, low job autonomy,
task variation and superior-support, high job insecurity and exposure to bullying. The distribution
of the working conditions is assessed by means of standard logistic regression analyses.
Also gender specific analyses are performed.
Results
At least two clusters of health-related occupational stressors can be identified. On the one
hand, high physical demands, atypical schedules, low control over the work environment and
high job insecurity are more common in manual, unskilled and subordinate workers. On the
other hand, high quantitative and emotional demands, as well as schedule unpredictability
are characteristic of higher skilled, professional and managerial employees.
Conclusion
Since little empirical information on the socio-economic distribution of various health-related
occupational stressors is available for Flanders, our results are important for obtaining more
insight into the pathways linking occupational health risks to socio-economic health inequalities
in the Flemish wage-earning population.