Characteristics of urban regions and all-cause mortality in working-age population

Using Finnish register data on individuals linked to information on urban regions, this study aimed to estimate the effects of some regional characteristics on all-cause mortality among working-age population in 1995-2001, and to find out whether these effects are different among those long-term unemployed than among others. Multilevel Poisson regression models were used. The characteristics of regions included unemployment rate, level of urbanisation, voting turnout, a summary measure of family cohesion, and the geographic location of the region. Our study showed that effects of most area characteristics on mortality were clear among those who suffered from long-term unemployment in the baseline but not among others, adjusting for basic socio-demographic characteristics of the individuals. The results thus suggest that the weaker in the society are more vulnerable to the effects of social environment than those better off.all-cause mortality, area effects, cross-level interactions, multilevel analysis, unemployment

Eriarvoisuus kuoleman edessä

JäähyväisluentoEriarvoisuus kuoleman edessä – tämän juhlallisen termin opin ranskalaisen Roland Pressat’n (1972) suomeksi käännetystä oppikirjasta Väestö ja väestötiede. Termi oli otsikkona luvussa, joka käsitteli yhteiskunnallisen aseman mukaisia eroja elinajan pituudessa historiallisesta näkökulmasta. Eriarvoisuus kuoleman edessä tai teknisemmin ilmaistuna sosioekonomiset kuolleisuuserot ovat olleet yksi keskeinen tutkimuskohteeni professorikautenani. Sen vuoksi olen valinnut sen jäähyväisluentoni aiheeksi. Luentoni sisältää kolme osaa: sosioekonomisten kuolleisuuserojen tutkimuksen historiaa, kuolleisuuserojen tutkimusta tutkimusryhmässämme sekä tuloksia elinajanodotteen erojen kehityksestä Suomessa.Non peer reviewe

Population development and the changes in the economic structure of Finnish urban areas

This article describes population development in urban communities and differences therein found during the period 1975-1990. The causes behind these differences are analyzed by using data on the economic development of the communities (e.g. the changes in industry and unemployment). Economic development in 1975-90 is linked to the regional transition in labor distribution and industrial activity, with a focus on deindustrialization and the growing predominance of the service sector in the trade structure. Using a community typology compiled on the basis of the analyses, estimates are made of future development in various communities up to the year 2010. The article will present the main results of a study which comprises the demographical portion of a multidisciplinary Finnish research program entitled “Prospects for Finnish Localities”

Trends in Life Expectancy by Level of Education and Occupational Social Class in Finland 1981-2000

The study analyses trends in life expectancy by level of education and by occupational social class in Finland from 1981 to 2000 to assess to what extent these trends have been in accordance with the target of reducing socioeconomic differences in life expectancy set in the Government public health programme. The study is based on the census records for the population aged 35 or over, which have been linked to the death records for the years 1981 to 2000. The results show that, contrary to the public health target, the difference in the life expectancy between persons with tertiary and basic education and that between upper non-manual and manual occupational classes increased during the 1990s. Differences in the trends in mortality from alcohol-related causes of death and from other cancers than lung cancer accounted for most the increase in the socioeconomic gap among men. Different from the 1980s changes in cardiovascular mortality did not contribute to the increase in the socioeconomic gap. Among women the increase in the socioeconomic gap was mainly due to the heterogeneous group of other diseases and cancers other than lung and breast cance