abstract: 'Background: The COVID-19 outbreak has posed considerable challenges for

  people''s health, work situations and life satisfaction. This article

  reports on a study of the relationship between self-reported health and

  life satisfaction before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway, and

  examines the role of work in explaining the health-life satisfaction

  relationship.

  Method: The study was based on survey data collected from 3185 Norwegian

  employees in 2019 and 3002 employees in 2020. Propensity score matching

  techniques were used to assess the mediating effects of work situations

  and income loss on the health-life satisfaction relationship. Skew-t

  regression models were further applied to estimate changes in life

  satisfaction before and during the pandemic, as well as to explore

  different underlying mechanisms for the health-life satisfaction

  association.

  Results: The study found a negative association between ill health and

  life satisfaction. Compared to the healthy population, people with poor

  health were more likely to experience worsened work situations. A

  negative work situation is further associated with lower life

  satisfaction, and the pandemic aggravated life satisfaction for those

  who had worsened work situations. When exploring central contributing

  factors for life satisfaction, we found that health-related risks and

  work-life balance played predominant roles in predicting life

  satisfaction before the pandemic, while different types of household

  structure were among the most important predictors of life satisfaction

  during the pandemic.

  Conclusion: A reduction in life satisfaction is explained by ill health,

  but different underlying mechanisms facilitated people''s life

  satisfaction before and during the pandemic. While work situation and

  health risks were important predictors for life satisfaction in 2019,

  worries about more unstable work situations and less access to family

  support accentuated worsened life satisfaction in 2020. The findings

  suggest the necessity of labour market interventions that address the

  security and maintenance of proper and predictable work situations,

  especially in these more uncertain times.'
affiliation: 'Bakkeli, NZ (Corresponding Author), Oslo Metropolitan Univ, Consumpt
  Studies Norway, POB 4, N-0130 Oslo, Norway.

  Bakkeli, Nan Zou, Oslo Metropolitan Univ, Consumpt Studies Norway, POB 4, N-0130
  Oslo, Norway.'
article-number: '100804'
author: Bakkeli, Nan Zou
author-email: Nan.Bakkeli@oslomet.no
author_list:
- family: Bakkeli
  given: Nan Zou
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100804
earlyaccessdate: MAY 2021
files: []
issn: 2352-8273
journal: SSM-POPULATION HEALTH
keywords: Life satisfaction; Health; Work; COVID-19; Inequality
keywords-plus: 'SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS; MENTAL-HEALTH; FAMILY CONFLICT; WELFARE-STATE;
  ILL

  HEALTH; HAPPINESS; IMPACT; DETERMINANTS; EMPLOYMENT; OUTCOMES'
language: English
month: JUN
number-of-cited-references: '104'
orcid-numbers: Bakkeli, Nan/0000-0002-4089-020X
papis_id: 9f12257862f653336a80b6db9e5a9b2e
ref: Bakkeli2021healthwork
times-cited: '19'
title: 'Health, work, and contributing factors on life satisfaction: A study in Norway
  before and during the COVID-19 pandemic'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000661125200048
usage-count-last-180-days: '5'
usage-count-since-2013: '25'
volume: '14'
web-of-science-categories: Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health
year: '2021'