ISF WP 2013-1 - page 2

2(30)
Intergenerational transmission of
long-term sick leave
by
Malin Josephson1, Nina Karnehed2, Erica Lindahl3 and Helena Persson4
September 2013
Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the importance of intergenerational
transmission of sick leave using universal Swedish register data on the rate
of sickness benefits. We find that there is a positive correlation between
parents’ and their children’s sick leave. The child–parent correlation is of
about the same magnitude irrespective of the gender of the parent and the
child, but it is larger the more sick leave the parent had when observed.
Furthermore, there is a positive correlation between the sick leave level of
the children and that of the parents-in-law, implying that persons tend to
live with a partner whose sick leave resembles that of their parents. Finally,
a comparison between siblings of different birth order shows that firstborn
daughters report fewer spells of sick leave than their younger siblings of
the same gender. This gap only emerges in the group of daughters with
parents who lack sick leave themselves, suggesting that the birth-order
effect is only of importance among women with low levels of sick leave.
Keywords: Intergenerational mobility, sickness absence, sickness benefits
and disability pension
JEL codes: I14, I15, I10
1 Malin.josephson@inspsf.se, The Swedish Social Insurance Inspectorate (ISF),
Stockholm, Sweden, Box 202, 101 24 Stockholm, Sweden.
2 Nina.karnehed@inspsf.se, The Swedish Social Insurance Inspectorate (ISF),
Stockholm, Sweden. , Stockholm, Sweden, Box 202, 101 24 Stockholm, Sweden.
3 Erica.lindahl@ifau.uu.se, Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education
Policy, Uppsala Sweden, Box 513, 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden.
4 Helena.persson@inspsf.se, The Swedish Social Insurance Inspectorate (ISF),
Stockholm, Sweden. , Stockholm, Sweden, Box 202, 101 24 Stockholm, Sweden.