HEALTH AT WORK AND LOW PAY: A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE*

This study investigates the relationship between health, working condi- tions and pay in Europe. In particular, I measure health at work using self-assessed indicators for overall, as well as physical and mental health, exploiting the 2005 wave of the European Working Conditions Survey for 15 EU countries. I find that, controlling for personal and firm char- acteristics (adverse) working conditions are associated with poor health status—both physical and mental. Low pay plays a role, mainly for men and when interacted with working conditions, suggesting that stigma and deprivation effects may be correlated with health at work. I also account for the potential endogeneity arising from workers sorting by firms and job types with different working conditions, and provide evidence of a causal effect of (adverse) working conditions and (low) pay on health at the workplace.