Research Group

Labor Demography

At a Glance Projects Publications Team

Project

Labor-Force Participation of Youth, Health, and Health Behaviors

Conducted by Mikko Myrskylä; Christian Dudel, Pekka Martikainen, Angelo Lorenti, Jo Mhairi Hale (MPIDR / University of St Andrews, United Kingdom)

Detailed Description

Health and health behaviors are major predictors of labor-market integration and success, and have been extensively studied among the working-age population. However, the interrelation between health and health behaviors on the one hand and labor-force participation at young age on the other has received little attention. Because individuals are especially vulnerable when entering the labor market and during their early working life, health behaviors at young age might have strong and long lasting effects. In this project, we study how health in general and health behaviors in particular are affecting entry into the labor market. One issue we will tackle is potential confounding by cognitive ability, which might affect health and health behaviors, as well as labor-market outcomes.