10(23)
4
Design and descriptives
The analysis takes advantage of the temporary transition rules applied
when implementing the rehabilitation chain on 1 July 2008, when already
ongoing sick spells were treated according to the old rules until 1 January
2009. That means that sick spells initiated only a few days apart – in the
last week of June and the first week of July 2008 – were subject to different
rules/treatment during the first 6 months. Any individual-specific
differences in factors potentially correlated with sick-spell length, for
instance age or income, will be accounted for in the analysis. By including
spells initiated in the same weeks of 2007, any non-observable differences,
for instance related to the particular week or month starting the sick spell,
will potentially also be captured in the analysis. The final sample consists of
5 512/4 637 sick spells/individuals initiated by employed individuals in
June/July of 2008, and 4 795/4 267 spells started in the same months of
2007.
Sick spells are identified and collected from the sick-spell register
administered by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, which contains
information on spells exceeding 14 days. The analyses are thus restricted
to sick spells at least 15 days long. Besides sick-spell-specific information
on medical diagnoses and the percentage on sick leave (100, 75, 50 or 25),
the register also contains individual characteristics (gender, age,
educational level, country of origin etc.), family situation, sick-spell history
and labour market attachment.
Table 1 sums up the characteristics of each group. Both monthly and yearly
comparisons reveal small differences. A majority of the sample is women
and the average benefit recipient is about 45 years old. More than every
fourth person reporting sick is highly educated (university), and 21-25% of
the sample receives maximum benefits. About 20% is living in the
Stockholm/Gothenburg/Malmö area, and the average sick-reporting history
is 9-10 months.
Table 1
Sample descriptives
July (1
st
week)
2008
June (last
week)
2008
July (1
st
week)
2007
June (last
week)
2007
Women
0.56
0.59
0.58
0.58
Age
44
45
45
44
Born abroad
0.14
0.14
0.15
0.14
University
0.28
0.27
0.27
0.27
% with maximum SI benefit
0.26
0.24
0.21
0.22
Big city areas
(Stockholm/Gothenburg/Malmö)
0.22
0.21
0.21
0.20
Sick-leave history (days)
275
301
298
282
Note: Number of observations, June 2007/2008: 5 512/4 795, and July 2007/2008:
4 637/4 267.
