Widening or narrowing inequalities in health? Comparing Britain and Finland from the 1980s to the 1990s.

This paper sheds light on the debate about whether class inequalities have given way to new divisions by employment status, by comparing changes in health inequalities among British and Finnish men and women between 1986 and 1994. Britain experienced high unemployment in the early 1990s. We examine how these contrasting labour market situations have influenced changes in health inequalities by employment status narrowed among men, whereas in Britain they widened or remained stable, with a less strong pattern of change for women. We found similar or slightly larger health inequalities by class among all adults than among the currently employed, with larger class inequalities in health among the employed labour force because of the greater chance of a 'healthy worker effect'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]