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Education, health behavior, and working conditions during the pandemic: evidence from a German sample
[journal article]
Abstract Education is a main cause of health inequality because it influences health behavior as well as structural conditions that impact health, such as living and working conditions. We examine how different educational groups reacted to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany by looking at health... view more
Education is a main cause of health inequality because it influences health behavior as well as structural conditions that impact health, such as living and working conditions. We examine how different educational groups reacted to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany by looking at health-related behavior - social distancing, increased hygiene, and mask wearing - as well as changes in working conditions - work from home, reduced working hours, and not working - as a structural indicator that can mitigate the risk of infection. More than three quarters of respondents in all educational groups complied with recommended social distancing and hand hygiene behaviors, and differences by education did not exceed ten percentage points. Regarding working conditions, highly educated respondents had a likelihood of over 45 percent to work from home during the pandemic. This number decreased to 17 and 11 percent for those with intermediate and low levels of education, respectively. It seems that education-based inequalities in the risk of infection with COVID-19 do not primarily stem from differences in health behavior but rather from structural causes, that is, inability to practice social distancing at work.... view less
Keywords
risk; Federal Republic of Germany; working conditions; contagious disease; level of education; health behavior; inequality
Classification
Medical Sociology
Free Keywords
Coronavirus; COVID-19; GESIS Panel Special Survey on the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak in Germany (Version 1.1.0 ), http://doi.org/10.4232/1.13520
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
S275-S288
Journal
European Societies, 23 (2021) Suppl. 1
Issue topic
European Societies in the Time of the Coronavirus Crisis
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020.1824004
ISSN
1469-8307
Status
Postprint; peer reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications