Abstract
Utilizing register panel data (1992—2003), in this article we study long-term sickness absence among immigrants and ethnic Norwegians (n = 200,022). The data contain detailed information on socio-economic background, labour market participation and social insurance benefits for all individuals aged between 16 and 67 years residing in Norway. We present four main findings: (1) There is no difference in sickness absence between ethnic Norwegians and immigrants from the other Nordic countries, Western and Eastern Europe after controlling for demographic, socio-economic and labour market factors; (2) the sickness absence rates are higher among individuals from Asia (men and women) and Africa (men), and lower among men from North America and Oceania compared with ethnic Norwegians; (3) second-generation immigrants share the same level of sickness absence as ethnic Norwegians; (4) residence time has a curve-linear effect (reversed U-shape) on sickness absence for most immigrant groups. We discuss the findings in relation to the reason for emigrating, health risks related to immigration, social exclusion and norms towards sickness absence.
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