Research Type: Work, Health & Social Mobility

farmer-health-inequalities-longitudinal.

Farmers Health Inequalities: Longitudinal Analysis of Morbidity, Mortality, and Migration Trends.

This study will examine morbidity, mortality, and migration between 1991, 2001, and 2011. Using individual and area level data from the NILS, I plan to compare census derived variables and health outcomes of agricultural workers against other distinct occupations. This study’s target audience will be farmers from different farming sectors and by extension their farming families. This study will analyse sub-groups of agricultural workers, their health circumstances, death rates, and migration trends against other detailed occupations; to examine variations in their demographic, socio-economic and health over time.

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Job stress and mental health status: the relationship between the number of hours per week spent working, current health status and accumulated prescriptions for symptoms of depression or symptoms of heart disease.

Job stress and mental health status: the relationship between the number of hours per week spent working, current health status and accumulated prescriptions for symptoms of depression or symptoms of heart disease.

In NILS project 060 (‘Worked to death..’), Research Team (DOR & MR) examined the mortality associated with numbers of hours spent working for those in full-time employment, as recorded at the 2001 Census of Northern Ireland. A paper reporting the results has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Epidemiology (impact factor=6.98), and it has also stimulated a meta-analysis of 17 international cohorts to confirm the modification of the relationship between long working hours and cardiovascular disease by occupational class.

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Telling it like it is: Educational attainment compared between the Censuses.

Telling it like it is: Educational attainment compared between the Censuses.

Our beta project was based upon fertility in the period 2001-11. Part of this involved the examination of educational attainment over the two Censuses. A remarkable outcome from this was that in about one tenth of cases educational attainment fell between the two Censuses. Most dramatically, over 1,300 of those who were recorded as having a degree in 2001 were listed as having no qualification in 2011.

The object of this project is to identify the factors that explain the fall in educational attainment and to examine their applicability in census responses to health questions where the situation is complicated by the status being able to deteriorate as well as improve.

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Does month of birth matter? Educational, health and labour market outcomes in Northern Ireland.

Does month of birth matter? Educational, health and labour market outcomes in Northern Ireland.

There is an extensive literature on the effects of birth month on educational, labour market, and health outcomes in later life. In England and Wales, there is evidence that those with summer births in July and August have poorer educational and labour market outcomes (see for example Crawford et al 2007) and in the USA it has been suggested that those with winter births experience poorer later outcomes (Buckles et al 2010). This proposal aims to extend this work to Northern Ireland by considering, for the first time in this context, the impact of birth month on later life and health outcomes. It also seeks to make a comparative contribution since the difference in the definition of the school year between Northern Ireland (starting on July 1st) and England & Wales (starting on September 1st) offers much potential for cross-national comparative analysis.

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Social and economic transitions and their effect on young people’s health and social wellbeing.

Social and economic transitions and their effect on young people’s health and social wellbeing.

The importance of the early years for ensuring health, prosperity and wellbeing throughout the life course now informs the economic and social planning of Governments across the UK and internationally, informing, for example, the move towards publically funding pre-school education. Gaining a better understanding of the effect that the social environment can have on children and young people is important for identifying ways to mitigate harmful influences.  Low familial Socioeconomic Status (SES) has been found to have a negative effect on child health but studies have shown that this effect diminishes over time especially where SES increases in adulthood.

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Worked to death? An analysis of the relationship between the numbers of hours spent working, current health status and mortality risk.

Worked to death? An analysis of the relationship between the numbers of hours spent working, current health status and mortality risk.

There is a wealth of research literature showing the salutogenic effects of employment and the deleterious effects of unemployment and threats of unemployment. However, the potentially harmful effects of excessive working have not been studied in Westernised Societies to date.

In contrast both the Japanese and Chinese have a word (‘karoshi’, ‘guolaosi’ respectively) for death due to overwork and this is an official cause of death for which the government pays compensation.

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Commuting, migration and health – a longitudinal study in Northern Ireland.

Commuting, migration and health – a longitudinal study in Northern Ireland.

There is empirical evidence that those who live far from their place of work make residential moves nearer to it as substitute to long-distance commutes. However, there is little known about this process in NI. People may only move house if their commute exceeds a certain threshold and this may vary between urban and rural areas and by dependent on the general, investigating questions about motives for housing moves, the size of housing/labour markets and their health status. More specifically, the project aims also to consider the mobility experiences of people with (a) limiting long-term illnesses and (b) general health problems but who are still in employment.

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Applying modelled income indicator to the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study.

Applying modelled income indicator to the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study.

Small area-based measures of income are being developed through an ESNSG project with the University of Essex. These statistics will give data on the probability of households in each small area falling below a given low-income threshold. This methodology is to be extended further in a separate NISRA project which is to be applicable at a household level. The current project will apply this model to each NILS member giving the probability that their household falls below an income threshold. This modelled income probability will then be used as a proxy for income in future NILS projects such as production of mortality and fertility rates by income probability and investigation of migration patterns. However, this project will focus on providing background information and evaluating the usefulness and accuracy of results produced using the income model.

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