TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Decomposing the effect of social policies on population health and inequalities: an empirical example of unemployment benefits
JO  - Scandinavian journal of public health
A1  - Ferrarini, Tommy
A1  - Nelson, Kenneth
A1  - Sjöberg, Ola
SP  - 635
EP  - 642
VL  - 42
IS  - 7
N2  - AIM: The purpose of this study is to discuss and empirically contrast different conceptualizations and operationalizations of social policies in analysing health and educational differences in health cross-nationally. <br><br>METHODS: Country-level institutional and expenditure data on unemployment benefit schemes and individual-level data from the EU-SILC for 23 countries were used to analyse the association between unemployment benefits and self-assessed health for individuals with different educational attainment. <br><br>RESULTS: The analyses indicate that higher coverage rate (i.e. the proportion of the relevant population eligible for benefits) is associated with better self-related health among both low- and high-educated individuals, but is not linked to smaller educational differences in health. In contrast, replacement rate (i.e. the amount of benefits received) in isolation is not related to self-assessed health. However, in countries where coverage rates are high, higher replacement rates are associated with better health among both low- and high-educated individuals and smaller educational differences in health. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Decomposing unemployment benefit programmes into two main dimensions - the proportion in the labour force covered by such programmes and the replacement rate received in case of unemployment - may present further insights into institutional mechanisms linking macro-level social policies to individual-level health outcomes.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1403-4948
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1403494814546349
ID  - ref1
ER  -