120 lines
4 KiB
YAML
120 lines
4 KiB
YAML
abstract: 'In Britain the government is currently proposing legislation that will
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encourage welfare recipients to gain employment. A central tenet of this
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`welfare to work'' policy is that employment will not only reduce the
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poverty of welfare recipients, but also improve their health. This
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research assessed the extent to which the movement from `welfare to
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work'' is likely to benefit the mental and physical health of lone
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mothers with preschool children. The sample was 719 lone mothers and a
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comparison group of 8779 women with partners drawn from the Avon
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Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ALSPAC). Data collected
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by self completion questionnaire at 33 months postpartum provided
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information about average weekly take home family income and the
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mother''s employment status. The health outcomes measured were general
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well being, both minor and major depression (using the Edinburgh
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Postnatal Depression Scale), self report of respiratory symptoms
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(cough/cold, wheeze, influenza) from 18-33 months postpartum and self
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report of symptoms common in the childbearing years (backache,
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haemorrhoids) also from 18-33 months postpartum Lone mothers who were
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not employed were the poorest group in the sample; 94\% of this group
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(402) had a family income of less than pound 200 per week, compared with
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72\% (188) of lone mothers who were employed, 25\% (905) of partnered
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women who were not employed and 12\% (466) of partnered women who were
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employed. Lone mothers were significantly more likely than women with
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partners to report poorer well being (chi(2) = 11.7, df = 3, P = 0.01),
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to have a major depressive disorder (chi(2) = 92.6, df = 1, P = 0.0001)
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and to report wheeze (chi(2) = 31.1, df = 1, P = 0.0001), but
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significantly less likely to report cough/cold (chi(2) = 9.9, df = 1, P
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= 0.0001) or haemorrhoids (chi(2) = 16.6, df = 1, P = 0.0001). Lone
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mothers who were unemployed and living on less than pound 100 per week
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were significantly more likely to be depressed (chi(2) = 3.9, df = 1, P
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= 0.05) than those who were employed and living on pound 200 or more per
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week, and significantly less likely to report cough/cold (chi(2) = 3.8,
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df = 1, P = 0.05). Logistic regression analyses showed no significant
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independent association between employment and better health for lone
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mothers. Rather, when compared with lone mothers who were not working,
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those who were employed were more likely to report minor respiratory
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symptoms such as cough/cold (OR = 1.51, 95\% CI = 1.00,2.31). Overall,
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the results suggested that the movement from `welfare to work'' is
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unlikely to improve the health of lone mothers. (C) 1999 Elsevier
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Science Ltd. All rights reserved.'
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affiliation: 'Baker, D (Corresponding Author), Univ Manchester, Natl Primary Care
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Res \& Dev Ctr, 5th Floor,Williamson Bldg,Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9PL, Lancs,
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England.
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Univ Manchester, Natl Primary Care Res \& Dev Ctr, Manchester M13 9PL, Lancs, England.'
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author: Baker, D and North, K and Team, ALSPAC Study
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author_list:
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- family: Baker
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given: D
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- family: North
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given: K
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- family: Team
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given: ALSPAC Study
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da: '2023-09-28'
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doi: 10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00104-5
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files: []
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issn: 0277-9536
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journal: SOCIAL SCIENCE \& MEDICINE
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keywords: lone mothers; employment; UK; inequality in health
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keywords-plus: 'PAID EMPLOYMENT; PHYSICAL HEALTH; YOUNG-CHILDREN; SINGLE MOTHERS;
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WOMENS
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HEALTH; ILL HEALTH; UNEMPLOYMENT; DEPRESSION; POLICY; ROLES'
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language: English
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month: JUL
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number: '1'
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number-of-cited-references: '48'
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orcid-numbers: Northstone, Kate/0000-0002-0602-1983
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pages: 121-131
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papis_id: 9613eca6ab024efdac38f57ceea39e76
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ref: Baker1999doesemployment
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researcherid-numbers: Northstone, Kate/A-8165-2011
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times-cited: '48'
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title: Does employment improve the health of lone mothers?
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type: article
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unique-id: WOS:000080963200010
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usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
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usage-count-since-2013: '13'
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volume: '49'
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web-of-science-categories: 'Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health; Social Sciences,
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Biomedical'
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year: '1999'
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