7(30)
A related channel of intergenerational sickness absence transmission is
the fact that many children remain in the same area where they have
grown up and sickness absence in the population varies between different
geographical areas. Granqvist and Olsson (2006) showed that the sickness
absence culture, both in the health-care system and in workplaces, varies
across local areas and local practices are determinants of sickness absence
(e.g., Virtanen, 2010).
Finally, an additional explanation for a potential intergenerational
correlation in sickness absence is the norms and social interactions between
individuals. The attitudes towards sickness absence vary across subgroups
and the members of a subgroup influence the sickness absence of other
members through social interactions (Henreksson and Persson, 2004;
Hesselius, Johansson and Vikström, 2008; Johansson and Palme, 2002,
2005; Lindbeck, Palme and Persson, 2004, 2007).. Family members are
probably important reference persons in this context. By using Swedish
register data, Andersson et al. (2011) showed that the risk of being sick
listed is higher if a family member has been sick listed during the previous
year.
