The individual's status in the labor market and health inequity in Brazil

Objective To investigate inequalities in personal health conditions and in the utilization of healthcare services according in relation to the individual status in the labor market. Methods This study was based on 39,925 males aged 15 to 64 years living in 10 Brazilian metropolitan regions, who took part in the 1998 National Household Survey. They were classified as formal labor informal labor unemployed or outside of the labor market. Each category was compared with formal labor regarding sociodemographic characteristics, health status indicators and healthcare utilization. This analysis was by means of Pearson Chi-square test. Multinomial logistic regression was used to investigate independent associations between labor market status, health status indicators and healthcare utilization. Results The classification of the participants' status was that 52.2% were formal labor, 27.7% informal labor, 10% unemployed and 10.2% were outside of the labor market. There were significant differences between these categories with respect to age, schooling, household income, household status and region of residence. Independent of the sociodemographic characteristics, unemployment, informal labor status and, especially, exclusion from the labor market remained associated with poor health status. Conclusions The individual status in the labor market is expressed through a gradient of inequality in health conditions. These findings reinforce the need to also consider the individual status in the labor market in studies on healthcare inequalities.