Jens Christoffer Skogen

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Women’s incorporation into paid work was in accordance with the ideal of gender equality, but failed to account for and confront the gendered socio-cultural norms. To a large degree, women entered public sector, an already ‘feminised sector of activity’, and thereby extended and reinforced the dominant socio-cultural practices. Men continued working in private sector, encountering masculine socio-cultural practices, which did not promote part-time positions and shared responsibility for family duties as a response to women’s increased working life participation. Thus, women’s inflow to working life did not bring about abrupt changes, but rather a modified continuation of the dominant gendered practices within working life and family life. However, this modification most likely led to an accumulation of disadvantages and burdens among women and contributed to a higher vulnerability for poor health and subsequent sickness absence and disability pension. Hence, the structural drivers (gendered distribution into working life, interchangeability and the duality of contemporary womanhood), that continue to influence the gender gap in sickness absence and disability pension, need to be further scrutinized in order to understand and possibly influence the gap.

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Har Norge et høyt sykefravær til tross for en god folkehelse? Intuitivt kan det se slik ut, men denne tilsynelatende paradoksale sammenhengen vakler når vi ser nærmere på påstanden om «høyt sykefravær» og tar høyde for den norske arbeidsdeltakelsen, lønnsbetingelsene og avtalen om et inkluderende arbeidsliv.

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In most dual breadwinner societies, women have higher rates of sickness absence and disability pension than men. Empirical studies have addressed the double burden of work and family, the gender segregated working life with corresponding differences in exposure, and sex differences in health to explain the sickness absence and disability gap. However, these studies have not been able to fully explain women’s higher level of health-related absence from work. In Norway, the consistent gender gap in sickness absence and disability pension receives considerable attention among politicians and in the public discourse. In this article we identify and analyse major policy initiatives, aimed at gender equality and increased working life participation among women, implemented in Norway after WWII. The societal changes emerging in the wake of these initiatives are discussed as structural drivers for the present-day gender difference in sickness absence and disability pension.

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Det er rikelig med grunner til å være opptatt av årsaker til sykefravær og hva som gjør at at kvinner jevnt over har et høyere sykefravær enn menn. Det er viktige nyanser i hvordan sykefraværet endrer seg for ulike aldersgrupper, arbeidsplasser og for menn og kvinner. Men, disse viktige diskusjonene må ikke drives av påstander om «dramatisk økning i kjønnsforskjellen» basert på forholdstall, og i alle fall ikke forholdstall som vokser fordi sykefraværet synker. Krisemaksimering ved ensidig bruk av forholdstall slik vi har sett i den siste tiden bringer debatten på avveie fordi det stimulerer til en akutt leting etter tegn i samtiden som kan forklare de viktige og vedvarende forskjellene i menn og kvinners sykefravær.