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Informal Employment and Poor Mental Health in a Sample of 180,260 Workers from 13 Iberoamerican Countries.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to estimate the association between employment conditions and mental health status in the working population of Iberoamerica. In this cross-sectional study, we pooled individual-level data from nationally representative surveys across 13 countries. A sample of 180,260 workers was analyzed. Informality was assessed by social security, health affiliation, or contract holding. Mental health was assessed using several instruments. We used Poisson regression models to estimate the contribution of informality to poor mental health by sex and country, adjusted by sociodemographic and work-related characteristics. Then, we performed a meta-analysis pooling of aggregate data using a random-effects inverse-variance model. Workers in informal employments showed a higher adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) of poor mental health than those in formal employment in Peru (aPR men 1.5 [95% confidence intervals 1.16; 1.93]), Spain (aPR men 2.2 [1.01; 4.78]) and Mexico (aPR men 1.24 [1.04; 1.47]; women 1.39 [1.18; 1.64]). Overall estimates showed that workers in informal employment have a higher prevalence of poor mental health than formal workers, with it being 1.19 times higher (aPR 1.19 [1.02; 1.39]) among men, and 1.11 times higher prevalence among women (aPR 1.11 [1.00; 1.23]). Addressing informal employment could contribute to improving workers' mental health.

SUBMITTER: Silva-Penaherrera M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9265366 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundInformal employment is unprotected and unregistered and it is often characterized by precarious working arrangements. Although being a global phenomenon and the most common type of employment worldwide, scholarly attention to its health effects has only recently accelerated. While there is still some debate, informal employment is generally understood to be detrimental to workers' health. However, because women are more vulnerable to informality than men, attention is required to the health consequences of female workers specifically. We conducted a systematic review with the objective to examine the global evidence on the consequences of informal employment, compared to formal employment, on the health of female workers and their children.MethodsWe searched peer-reviewed literature in Embase, Medline, PsychInfo, Scopus and Web of Science up until November 11, 2022. No restrictions were applied in terms of year, language or country. Individual-level quantitative studies that compared women of reproductive age in informal and formal employment, or their children (≤ 5 years), were eligible for inclusion. If studies reported outcomes per subgroup level, these were included. Study quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist and a narrative synthesis of the results were conducted.Results13 articles were included in the review, looking at breastfeeding outcomes (n = 4), child nutritional status and low birthweight (n = 4), antenatal health (n = 3), and general health outcomes for women (n = 2). The overall evidence from the included studies was that compared to formal employment, there was an association between informal employment and worse health outcomes, especially on child nutritional status and antenatal health. The evidence for breastfeeding outcomes was mixed and showed that informal employment may be both protective and damaging to health.ConclusionThis review showed that informal employment is a potential risk factor for health among female workers and their children. Further research on the pathways between informal employment and health is needed to strengthen the understanding of the health consequences of informal employment.

Project description:ObjectiveTo review the evidence of supported employment interventions in low-to-middle income countries, documents their impact for persons with mental disorders in the open labour market and well as support decision making for its wider implementation in the workplace.DesignThe scoping review is conducted following guidelines in the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) Framework.Data sources and eligibilityEleven databases which are PubMed, Scopus, Academic Search Premier, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Africa-Wide Information, Humanities International Complete, Web of Science, PsychInfo, SocINDEX, Open Grey and Sabinet were searched for articles published between January 2006 and January 2022. Both peer-reviewed articles and grey literature were eligible if they were on supported employment interventions in low-to-middle income countries. Only articles published in English were included.Study appraisal and synthesisArticles were screened at title, abstract and full article levels by two independent teams with the use of Rayyan software. Deductive thematic analysis was used to synthesize evidence on the supported employment interventions implemented in LMICs, capturing evidence of their outcomes for persons with mental disabilities securing competitive work.ResultsThe search yielded 7347 records and after screening by title and abstract, 188 studies were eligible for full article screening. Eight studies were included in this scoping review. Thematic descriptions of the findings were based on the availability of supported employment interventions within the context, the type of supported employment interventions as well as mental health and vocational outcomes in the workplace.ConclusionsThere is limited evidence of supported employment interventions in low-to-middle income countries despite the promising potential it has as an intervention to address mental health problems in the workplace and facilitate work participation by persons with mental disabilities.

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Informal Employment and Poor Mental Health in a Sample of 180,260 Workers from 13 Iberoamerican Countries.

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