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Shifts in Women's Paid Employment Participation During the World War II Era and Later Life Health
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Shifts in Women's Paid Employment Participation During the World War II Era and Later Life Health

April M. Falconi, Ann M. Weber, Mark R. Cullen, Marcia L. Stefanick, Yvonne L. Michael and Gary L. Darmstadt
Journal of adolescent health, v 66(1), pp S42-S50
Jan 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.10.005
PMID: 31866037
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.10.005View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY V4.0,  Open

Abstract

Female labor force participation Gender roles Women's employment Women's health
The greatest proportional increase in female labor force participation of the 20th century occurred post–World War II (WWII) when shifts in policy and growth in service and clerical work spurred an influx of women into the labor force. Research has yet to demonstrate how variation in women's employment participation during this era related to their later life health. We examined how shifts in women's employment patterns during the WWII era influenced their disease and mortality risk. Using data from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, we evaluated the employment history of a cohort of 6,158 women across the U.S. during the WWII era. We fit logistic regression models estimating the association between involvement in the workforce over 5-year intervals and health (i.e., cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mortality). We also ran models with a younger cohort (n = 12,435) of women to assess how associations between work and health varied between cohorts. The older cohort of women who entered the workforce before the onset of WWII showed mixed to no differences in health relative to homemakers. The younger cohort of women who entered the workforce during WWII tended to show negative relationships between work during their late/post-childbearing years and health, experiencing higher risks for mortality. The policies, social forces, and broader environment in which women live appear to significantly influence how involvement in the workforce over the life course influences health. Women whose entry into the workforce was initially encouraged socially but were later confronted with opposition experienced increased health risks.

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13 Record Views
6 citations in Web of Science
7 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#10 Reduced Inequalities
#5 Gender Equality

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Pediatrics
Psychology, Developmental
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
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