Global Inequalities at Work

Work's Impact on the Health of Individuals, Families, and Societies

Edited by Jody Heymann

Drawing on studies in five continents, this book brings together international authorities to critically examine the many ways in which work is affecting health around the world. The first section covers the wide range of risks--physical, chemical, and social--to the health of employees in agricultural, industrial and post-industrial workplaces. The second section explores how working conditions are affecting employees' families. The third section approaches the relationships between work and health from a community or societal standpoint. The final section deals with the opportunities for improving health and labor standards afforded by globalization of the economy, as well as the risks entailed.

Global Inequalities at Work

Work's Impact on the Health of Individuals, Families, and Societies

Edited by Jody Heymann

Description

A map of the relationship between work and health that is truly global--both geographically and in its coverage of the impact of work on the health of individuals, families, and societies, has not previously been drawn. Global Inequalities at Work is the first book to fill in the map. Drawing from studies done around the world, it critically examines the many ways in which work is affecting health around the world. The first section covers the wide range of risks--physical, chemical, and social--tot he health of employees in agricultural, industrial, and post-industrial workplaces. Part II provides a detailed analysis of how working conditions can dramatically influence the health and welfare of family members--including children, elderly parents, and the disabled--in both the developing and industrial world. Part III examines the relationships between work and health at the societal level by focusing on two examples: the ways in which working conditions affect income inequalities and health, and the ways in which working conditions influence gender inequalities and health. Part IV investigates the new challenges to and opportunities for improving the relationship between work and health that are presented by a rapidly globalizing economy.
Global Inequalities at Work addresses these issues at a time when globalization is both markedly changing the impact of work on the health of individuals, families, and societies, and radically revising what can be done about it. Leaders from universities, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations bring to this edited volume expertise from six continents.

Global Inequalities at Work

Work's Impact on the Health of Individuals, Families, and Societies

Edited by Jody Heymann

Introduction: The Precarious Relationship between Work and Health in our Global Economy
Part IB Global Health Risks in the Workplace: The Impact on Individuals
1. Impact of Chemical and Physical Exposures on Worker's Health, David C. Christiani and Xiao-Rong Wang
2. Biological and Social Risks Intertwined: The case of AIDS, Peju Gbadebo, Alyssa Rayman-Read, and S. Jody Heymann
3. Individuals at Risk: The Case of Child Labor, Luiz A. Facchini, Anaclaudia Fassa, Marinel Dall'Agnol, Ma. de Fatima Maia, David Christiani
Part II: The Broader Impact of Global Working Conditions: The Effect on Families
4. The Impact of Labor Conditions on the Health and Welfare of All Generations, S. Jody Heymann, Aron Fischer, Michal Engelman
5. A Case Study: Maternal Labor, Breastfeeding, and Infant Health, Susanha Yimyam, Martha Morrow
6. Maternal Labor and Child Nutrition, Peter Glick
Part III: The Relationship between Work and Health: Mediated at Community and Societal Levels
7. Wage Poverty, Earned Income Inequality, and Health, S.V. Subramanian, Ichiro Kawachi
8. Gender Inequality in Work, Health, and Income, Mayra Buvinic, Antonio Giuffrida, Amanda Glassman
9. Women, Labor, and Social Transitions, Parvin Ghorayshi
Part IV: Globalization of the Economy: The Risks and Opportunities It Creates for Health
10. Work and Health in Export Industries at National Borders, Catalina A. Denman, Leonor Cedillo, Sioban Harlow
11. Opportunities for Improving Working Conditions through International Agreements, Stephen Pursey, Pavan Baichoo, Jukka Takala
12. The Role Global Labor Standards Could Play in Addressing Basic Needs, Kimberly Ann Elliott, Richard B. Freeman

Global Inequalities at Work

Work's Impact on the Health of Individuals, Families, and Societies

Edited by Jody Heymann

Reviews and Awards

"Global Inequalities at Work is probably one of the first books to examine the impact of work on health of families and societies in different parts of the world. Besides its immediate relevance for occupational health, public health, and public policy programs, [this book] can potentially offer another important contribution, as a temporal landmark for future observation of the exten and speed of improvement in global work conditions and the success or failure of the different strategies described by its authors for such improvements." --JAMA