TABLE 3—
Socioeconomic Characteristics and Estimated Percentage of Latent Health Trajectory Members Before and After Study Initiation: PSID, United States, 1991–2001, and BHPS, United Kingdom, 1992–2002
| Characteristic | Stable Good Health, Estimated % (95% CI) | Declining Health, Estimated % (95% CI) | Improved Health, Estimated % (95% CI) | Stable Poor Health, Estimated % (95% CI) |
| PSID | ||||
| Percentage responding | 45.8% | 9.6% | 1.6% | 42.8% |
| 1990 | ||||
| Employed | 95.2 (94.1, 96.3) | 95.1 (93.8, 96.4) | 92.7 (90.5, 95.0) | 89.3 (87.7, 90.9) |
| Unemployed | 1.8 (1.2, 2.4) | 1.8 (1.1, 2.5) | 2.3 (1.5, 3.1) | 4.2 (3.4, 5.1) |
| Economically inactivea | 3.0 (2.1, 3.8) | 3.1 (1.9, 4.3) | 5.0 (3.0, 6.9) | 6.5 (5.1, 7.8) |
| Low incomeb | 12.7 (10.7, 14.7) | 14.9 (12.3, 17.5) | 24.5 (20.1, 28.9) | 28.7 (25.4, 32.1) |
| Routine or semiroutine occupationc | 18.5 (15.9, 21.0) | 23.8 (19.7, 27.9) | 33.8 (28.8, 38.8) | 39.0 (35.5, 42.5) |
| 2001 | ||||
| Employed | 92.4 (90.9, 93.9) | 85.0 (82.3, 87.7) | 90.4 (86.2, 94.7) | 85.3 (83.6, 87.0) |
| Unemployed | 1.0 (0.5, 1.6) | 2.4 (0.9, 3.8) | 1.1 (0.7, 1.6) | 2.9 (2.1, 3.8) |
| Economically inactivea | 6.5 (5.2, 7.8) | 12.6 (10.1, 15.2) | 8.4 (4.2, 12.6) | 11.8 (10.3, 13.3) |
| Low incomeb | 11.7 (10.1, 13.3) | 20.1 (16.5, 23.6) | 19.3 (13.2, 25.5) | 29.8 (26.3, 33.3) |
| Routine or semiroutine occupationc | 14.6 (12.4, 16.8) | 18.8 (14.9, 22.8) | 20.5 (14.3, 26.6) | 27.5 (24.8, 30.3) |
| BHPS | ||||
| Percentage responding | 60.3% | 13.8% | 2.5% | 22.6% |
| 1991 | ||||
| Employed | 85.6 (84.4, 86.9) | 84.4 (82.3, 86.5) | 68.0 (63.0, 73.1) | 66.1 (63.0, 69.2) |
| Unemployed | 4.0 (3.3, 4.7) | 5.1 (3.8, 6.5) | 7.6 (4.5, 10.8) | 7.6 (6.0, 9.2) |
| Economically inactivea | 10.4 (9.3, 11.4) | 10.5 (8.9, 12.1) | 24.3 (19.8, 28.9) | 26.3 (23.6, 29.1) |
| Low incomeb | 15.3 (13.8, 16.9) | 17.4 (15.2, 19.5) | 30.1 (25.3, 34.9) | 32.9 (29.3, 36.4) |
| Routine or semiroutine occupationc | 23.1 (21.1, 25.1) | 27.5 (24.9, 30.0) | 40.5 (35.9, 45.1) | 44.8 (41.7, 47.9) |
| 2002 | ||||
| Employed | 90.4 (89.3, 91.6) | 82.5 (80.2, 84.8) | 84.4 (80.9, 87.8) | 71.2 (68.5, 73.9) |
| Unemployed | 1.2 (0.8, 1.6) | 2.3 (1.3, 3.3) | 1.5 (0.5, 2.4) | 2.4 (1.5, 3.2) |
| Economically inactivea | 8.3 (7.2, 9.4) | 15.2 (12.9, 17.5) | 14.2 (10.6, 17.7) | 26.4 (23.8, 29.0) |
| Low incomeb | 14.4 (12.7, 16.1) | 21.6 (18.5, 24.6) | 29.7 (23.8, 35.5) | 33.6 (30.2, 36.9) |
| Routine or semiroutine occupationc | 22.0 (19.9, 24.1) | 26.9 (23.4, 30.3) | 32.0 (25.8, 38.1) | 34.1 (30.4, 37.9) |
Note. PSID = Panel Study of Income Dynamics, BHPS = British Household Panel Study; CI = confidence interval.
aEconomically inactive includes those that are early retirees, permanently or temporarily disabled, involved in family care or keeping house, students, involved in workfare or government training schemes, in prison, or involved in other nonwork activities.
bLow income was defined as those in the bottom 20% of adjusted household income. Adjusted incomes were derived by dividing household income by the square root of household size.
cRoutine and semiroutine occupations are regulated by short-term labor contracts, exchange wages for labor, are highly unsupervised, and have little or no need for employee discretion.