| Zusammenfassung: | There are considerable differences in the incidence of sickness, the pattern of diseases and the duration of episodes of sickness by age, gender, education, and employment status. The employed have a significantly better health record than the unemployed. The analysis of health data of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) and micro-census data suggest that this is at least partly the result of explicit screening of the employed by their health record. In the wake of micro-economic reform, structural change and cyclical downturns, persons with a bad health record are amongst the first to be made redundant. In addition, unemployment per se may act as a psychological stress factor and through that mechanism exacerbate health problems. This fact has to be taken into account when drawing up measures to reintegrate unemployed, particularly long-term unemployed persons, into the labour market.
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