Gender-specific career characteristics and health trajectories in France - Discussion.

Summary Owing to the well-documented gender occupational career divide, linked to the persistent gender division of labor. key career characteristics are unevenly distributed in men and women: low-skilled first jobs, downward occupational trajectories, career interruptions are overrepresented in women. These characteristics are interrelated and usually associated with poor health. Therefore this gender career divide could contribute to women’s health disadvantage. In this study, we investigated whether these unequally distributed characteristics have an independent and long-lasting impact on both men’s and women’s health. We used the French population survey "Health and Occupational Trajectories" comprising 2 waves (2006 and 2010). We focused on the 45-64 year-old individuals who participated in both waves, being either in the labor force in 2006 (n = 3,368). The 2006 wave comprised retrospective information on occupations which enabled to characterization of the respondents' careers prior to 2006. First, multinomial logistic regressions assessed whether past career characteristics impacted the health trajectories which were measured by changes in self-perceived health (SPH) reported in 2006 and 2010. Second, nested logistic models assessed whether the impact of past career characteristics remain when most recent career characteristics are accounted for. All models were adjusted on current and past sociodemographic and health variables. We found that unskilled first jobs, interrupted or downward careers prior to 2006 impacted the 2006-2010 SPH trajectories in women. detrimental characteristics in men were downward and stationary trajectories, as well as a shift from self-employment to employment. Their impact was significant independently of the other past career characteristics and, in most cases, independently of the recent career changes observed between the two waves. The gender inequalities in first job opportunities and career discontinuity have long-term health consequences for women. These results encourage further investigation on how policies promoting equity in the labor force, could help to improve health and reduce women’s health disadvantage.