Idunn Brekke

Ethnic Background and the Transition from Education to Work among University Graduates

This paper focuses on the transition from education to work among Masters-level university graduates in Norway and examines the differences in labour-market success among ethnic groups. The dependent variables used are the rate of transition to first regular employment and the annual wage in that job. The data are collected from several public register databases, and include the entire population of graduates from Norwegian universities in the period from 1993 to 2002 (n=34,702). The methods employed are Cox regression and linear regression. The findings indicate that the time from school completion to first regular employment is longer for those with an ethnic minority background compared to native Norwegians. This disadvantage applies particularly to people originating from Africa, who also earn significantly less than native Norwegians in their first job. However, no wage disadvantage is found among other ethnic groups. In addition, there are some differences when field of education is taken into account. People originating from Asia have a faster transition rate to employment when educated in communicative and cultural fields.

Ethnic background and the transition from vocational education to work: a multi‐level analysis of the differences in labour market outcomes

This article focuses on the impact of ethnic background on employment and earnings among people with a vocational education in Norway. I differentiate between three different groups: majority, first‐generation non‐Westerners and second‐generation non‐Westerners. Panel data from several public register databases of the entire population of graduates from Norwegian vocational schools from 1997 to 2001 (N = 54,453) are used. The aim of this article is to uncover ethnic inequality in the labour market among vocational graduates and try to understand these differences. By using multi‐level linear and logistic regression analysis methods it is shown that the majority have significantly higher earnings than the first‐ and second‐generation non‐western ethnic minorities; however, the earning gap is closing with time since graduation. The analyses also show that the ethnic differences in earnings are minor when we compare individuals who are fully employed. Results for employment show that the first‐generation non‐western minorities have a lower probability for full employment as compared to the majority, but the second‐generation minorities experience only a minor disadvantage. Finally, I found that the disparity in annual earnings between the first‐generation non‐western minorities and the majority increases with increasing non‐western ethnic concentration and unemployment rate in local labour markets.

Long-term labour market consequences of dropping out of upper secondary school Minority disadvantages?

In this study, I compare the labour market outcomes of school completers and school dropouts 10 years after they have entered upper secondary education. I compare second-generation immigrant youth from Turkey, Morocco, Pakistan, Vietnam, India and Chile with native majority youth in terms of economic inactivity, employment probability and educational enrolment. I use register data from Statistics Norway, which contain information on all students who entered upper secondary school between 1994 and 1998. The results show that youths who drop out of school have a lower probability of being employed than school completers. However, the labour market penalty of dropping out is not more excessive among second-generation immigrant youth than among native majority youth.

On duty all the time: health and quality of life among immigrant parents caring for a child with complex health needs.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To provide knowledge about how immigrant parents of children with complex health needs manage their family lives and how this affects their own health and quality of life. BACKGROUND Caregivers of children with complex health needs have additional risk for general health problems and mental health problems and immigrant parents may be more vulnerable to mental distress and failing health and quality of life. DESIGN This qualitative study used an exploratory design with individual and focus group interviews. Data collection and analysis followed phenomenological hermeneutic guidelines. METHODS Individual and group interviews with 27 parents: 18 mothers and 9 fathers from Pakistan, Poland and Vietnam. RESULTS Immigrant parents of children with complex health needs experience their own health and quality of life challenges. They described the burden of dealing with their childs needs and special care, which affects their sleep and physical and mental health. Single mothers are particularly vulnerable. CONCLUSION Parents reported positive and negative effects of their caregiving experience that may affect their health and quality of life. Mothers were the primary caregivers and reported more health problems than did fathers. The lack of respite care, social networks and support impacted maternal health. Immigrant parents struggle to access resources for their child with complex health needs. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Hospital nurses, schools and community health care can play a valuable role in supporting the parents of children with complex health needs. It is important that parents are informed about their rights and receive a coordinator and interdisciplinary group to ensure that their needs are met with assistance and respite care. That maternal health was worse in this sample implies that health care professionals should pay more attention to reducing stress among these caregivers.

Doctor-certified sickness absence in first and second trimesters of pregnancy among native and immigrant women in Norway

Aims: The authors sought to estimate differences in doctor-certified sickness absence during pregnancy among immigrant and native women. Methods: Population-based cohort study of pregnant women attending three Child Health Clinics in Groruddalen, Oslo, and their offspring. Questionnaire data were collected at gestational weeks 10–20 and 28. The participation rate was 74%. A multivariate Poisson regression was used to analyse differences in sickness absence in pregnancy between immigrant and native women. Results: A total of 573 women who were employed prior to their pregnancies were included, 51% were immigrants. After adjusting for age, years of education, marital status, number of children, occupation, part-time/full-time work, health status, severe pregnancy-induced emesis and language proficiency, the immigrant/native differences in number of weeks with sickness absence decreased from 2.0 to 1.2 weeks. Part-time/full-time work, health status, severe pregnancy-induced emesis and language proficiency were significant predictors of sickness absence. Conclusion: Immigrant women had higher sickness absence than native women during pregnancy. The difference in average number of weeks between native and immigrant women was partly explained by poorer health status prior to pregnancy, severe pregnancy-induced emesis and poorer proficiency in the Norwegian language among the immigrant women.

Gendered effects of intensified care burdens: employment and sickness absence in families with chronically sick or disabled children in Norway

Using longitudinal register data from Norway, the article examines the impact of having a child with intensified care needs on maternal and paternal employment, within a gender equality promoting welfare state. The hypothesis is that parents with a chronically sick or disabled child will have lower employment probabilities, lower labour earnings and higher sickness absence than parents with a healthy child, and that mothers are more affected than fathers when having a child with extra care needs. A quasi-experimental difference-in-difference regression model shows that the employment probabilities of parents with a sick or disabled child are comparable to those of parents with a healthy child, both for mothers and fathers. The analyses further reveal that having a chronically sick or disabled child reduces labour earnings and increases long-term sickness absence among mothers, while fathers’ labour earnings and sickness absence are less affected.

Long-time sickness absence among parents of pre-school children with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and down syndrome: a longitudinal study

BackgroundTaking care of a child with special needs can be draining and difficult and require a lot of parental time and resources. The present study investigated the long-term sickness absence of parents who have children with spina bifida, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome compared to that of parents without a child with special needs.MethodsThe sample consisted of primiparae women who gave birth between 2001 and 2005 and the fathers of the children (N = 202,593). Data were obtained from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN), which is linked to the Central Population Register, education and income registries and Historical Event Database (FD-Trygd) of Statistics Norway (SSB). The linkage data provide longitudinal data, together with annual updates on children and their parents. Statistical analyses were performed using difference-in-difference (DD) study design.ResultsCaring for a child with special needs affected maternal sickness absence, particularly in the first year after the birth. The level of sickness absence of mothers caring for a child with spina bifida and cerebral palsy was greater than that of mothers caring for a child with Down syndrome. In contrast, the sickness absence of fathers caring for a child with special needs was, on average, comparable to that of fathers without a special-needs child in the post-birth period.ConclusionsCaring for a child with special needs affected the long-term sickness absence of mothers but not fathers. The findings indicate that the burden of care in the case of children with special needs falls especially on the mother.

The impact of birthweight and adolescent health on educational attainment

ABSTRACT This article examines the relationship between birthweight, adolescent health (general health and psychological distress) and high school completion in Norway, using survey data linked to longitudinal registry data (n = 5,354). The findings show that the positive association between birthweight and high school completion can be attributed to socioeconomic status. General adolescent health is explained by socioeconomic status combined with risk- and protective behavior. Psychological distress is mediated by having a close relationship with family and friends among the most affluent students, but not among the lower-income students. Among the lower-income students it was, instead, absence from school and feeling comfortable in class that mediated the association between psychological distress and high school completion, net of other factors.

Health and educational success in adolescents: a longitudinal study

BackgroundHealth in childhood and adolescence is a matter of contention. This article examines how infant and adolescent health act together with parental SES, health-related behaviour and academic factors to generate differences in the early life course with regard to later enrolment in higher education.MethodsWe used a questionnaire on health, The Oslo Health Study, which was linked to register data that provided detailed information on educational outcomes over time; and the Medical Birth Registry of Norway, which provided information on health at birth.ResultsIt was found in the unadjusted results that infant health measures had a positive association with enrolment in higher education. After adjustment for adolescent health, there was still evidence that infant health are associated with enrolment in higher education. However, this association disappeared when parental socio-economic status (SES) was included in the model. Health in adolescents remains a significant and strong predictor of enrolment in higher education after adjusting for parental SES. However, the relationship between adolescent health and enrolment in higher education was reduced and became nonsignificant when adjustments were made to the health behaviour of the adolescents and their relationship with their families. Future educational expectations and good grades in grade 10 are strong predictors of enrolment in higher education.ConclusionsThere are lower odds of enrolment in higher education for infants of low birthweight. However, this result seems to reflect the fact that parental SES correlate with both infant health and enrolment in higher education. Adolescent health are associated with enrolment in higher education, even after adjusting for parental SES. However, a considerable proportion of this association seems to be attributable to health-related behaviour and the relationship of the adolescent with his or her family.

Reporting of pain by people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): comparative results from the HUNT3 population-based survey

BackgroundChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often associated with chronic pain, but pain in COPD remains poorly understood, particularly in comparison to pain in other groups. We compared the pain reported by people with COPD with that reported by arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, and those not reporting any disease, while adjusting for the effects of selected sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, comorbidities, anxiety, and depression.MethodsUsing cross-sectional data from a population-based health survey in Norway (HUNT3; n = 50,807), we included participants with COPD (n = 1199), participants without COPD, but with arthritis (n = 8582), heart disease (n = 4109), or diabetes (n = 1254), and participants without any disease (n = 18,811). Logistic and linear regression analyses were performed to estimate the probability of reporting chronic pain and the level of pain intensity in the different groups adjusting for other relevant factors.ResultsApproximately half (51.8%) of people with COPD reported chronic pain, which was a significantly higher rate than in the diabetes and non-disease groups, and similar to the heart disease group. People with arthritis had a chronic pain rate of 75.4%, which was higher than all other groups, including COPD. Analyses of pain intensity yielded similar findings, with the COPD group having higher pain intensity than the diabetes and non-disease groups, similar pain intensity as the heart disease group, and less pain intensity than the arthritis group. The likelihood of chronic pain and the intensity of pain were generally higher among women, people employed in occupations with low educational requirements, smokers, and those with comorbidity. Chronic pain rates and pain intensity increased with age and higher anxiety and depression scores, and were inversely related to physical activity.ConclusionsPeople with COPD are at increased risk for chronic pain and higher pain intensity, second only to those with arthritis among the disease groups included in this study. The findings indicate a close relationship between pain and anxiety and depression. The relationships between pain and socioeconomic and lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking and exercise) suggest the need for efforts at the societal level to reduce inequality in health.