15(30)
Table 2.
Share with and without sickness absence among grown-up
children, depending on whether their parents have sickness
absence or not
Daughters
Mothers
No absence
Absence
Total Risk ratio
1
Risk difference
2
No absence
28.77 27.27 56.03
Absence
18.79 25.18 43.97
1.18
0.09***
Total
47.56 52.44 100.00
Sons
Mothers
No absence
Absence
Total Risk ratio Risk difference
No absence
43.64 12.08 55.72
Absence
31.34 12.94 44.28
1.35
0.08***
Total
74.98 25.02 100.00
Daughters
Fathers
No absence
Absence
Total Risk ratio Risk difference
No absence
31.93 31.76 63.69
Absence
15.63 20.68 36.31
1.14
0.07***
Total
47.56 52.44 100.00
Sons
Fathers
No absence
Absence
Total Risk ratio Risk difference
No absence
49.51 14.04 63.55
Absence
25.47 10.98 36.45
1.36
0.08***
Total
74.98 25.02 100.00
Note: 1) and 2): The risk ratio for sickness absence is calculated in the following way
(exemplified by mothers and daughters): (25.18/43.97) / (27.27/ 56.03) and the
corresponding risk difference is calculated as: (25.18/43.97) – (27.27/ 56.03). The
statistical significance of the risk difference (based on the number of days absent)
is indicated by *** and refers to p<0.01.
The number of days absent due to sickness
In this section, we ask whether the overrepresentation of children with
sickness absence among parents with sickness absence is equally
distributed across the number of days absent due to sickness. To this
purpose, we focus on the parents and their children who have days absent
due to sickness.
Table 3 presents the sickness absence rate in five equally large groups
ranked after their average number of days absent due to sickness within
the respective generation and gender. Group 1 consists of the 20 per cent
with the lowest rate of sick leave and group 5 consists of the 20 per cent
with the highest rate of sick leave. Mothers’ and fathers’ shares are given
in the rows and daughters’ and sons’ shares in the columns. If there was
no correlation between parents’ and their children’s rate of sick leave, the
expected share in each cell would be 20 per cent.
