What explains the socioeconomic status-health gradient? Evidence from workplace COVID-19 infections.

ABSTRACT: This paper studies the contribution of the workplace to the SES-health gradient. Our analysis is based on a unique dataset that tracks various health outcomes and workplace risks among healthcare workers during the first four months of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The setting provides an exceptional opportunity to test for work-related disparities in health, while controlling for confounding determinants of the SES-health gradient. We find that low-SES nurses were systematically more likely to contract COVID-19 as a result of workplace exposure. These differentials existed in all healthcare institutions, but were particularly large in non-hospital settings. In contrast, we find no relationship between SES and nonwork-related infection rates. The differences in workplace infect

SUBMITTER: Godefroy R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9150908 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature