Using longitudinal data from Panel Study of Income and Dynamic (PSID) and multivariate analyses, this dissertation examines the dynamic and longitudinal relationship between gender, occupational career and health among people of working age under the new economy. The major concern is whether there are gender differences in the health returns to occupation/employment resources across life course, whether the gendered health gap diverges with age, and whether health affect men' and women's employment transitions and occupational mobility differently. Results show that women experience significantly poorer health than men, but this health gap reduces with aging. The health disadvantages experienced by women are entirely explained by SES status. Working becomes increasingly important to maintain health as people age. However, women receive far fewer health rewards from employment than men, and this unequal health returns to employment are compounded with age. The health benefit from a higher occupational status is similar for men and women across the life course. More importantly, all else being equal, health of women declines at a rate half that of men, showing a reversed gender health gap toward old age. Regarding health selection, results show that health is not a predictor of occupational status for either men or women, but is an important predictor for employment status and downward mobility of both genders. From a theoretical standpoint, this research illustrates the limitation of using one dominate life course theory, and calls for a more prominent theory that examine both biological and social processes that contribute to the life course gender health inequality. Methodologically, results suggest the superiority of combining longitudinal designs with hierarchical longitudinal models, which are able entangle the within-person health change and between-person effects of time. From a policy standpoint, the study suggests that familyriendly policies should be able to improve both women's employment and, by extension, their health status.

Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht theoretisch und empirisch gesundheitliche Selektionsprozesse auf dem deutschen Arbeitsmarkt und wie diese durch soziale Kontextfaktoren beeinflusst werden. Aufbauend auf der Humankaiptaltheorie werden eine reihe von Hypothesen aufgestellt über den kausalen Effekt der subjektiven Gesundheit und der krankheitsbedingten Fehltage auf den Jobstatus. Die Humankapitaltheorie wird so erweitert, dass der Effekt der Gesundheit mit dem Grad der Benachteiligung einer Person und dem Grad der sozialen Schließung des Jobs variieren kann. Konkret werden die moderierenden Einflüsse des Geschlechts und des öffentlichen versus privaten Sektors sowie der Geschlechteranteile im Beruf untersucht. Die empirische Analysen werden auf Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) durchgeführt. Verschiedene Methoden werden angewandt, um kausale Effekte der subjektiven Gesundheit auf den Jobstatus zu schätzen. Weiterhin wird eine Dekomposition der gesamten gesundheitlichen Ungleichheit in zeit-konstante und zeit-variante Faktoren und auf gesundheitlicher Selektion basierende Prozesse durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass gesundheitliche Selektion für Frauen im privaten Sektor gefunden werden kann, nicht aber im öffentlichen Sektor und auch nicht für Männer. Für krankheitsbedingte Fehltage kann ein kausaler Effekt für Männer im privaten Sektor gefunden werden, nicht aber im öffentlichen Sektor oder für Frauen. Unter den gewählten Bedingungen der Studie, sind gesundheitliche Selektionsprozesse daher eher in offenen Positionen und für Gruppen, die einer Benachteiligung gegenüber stehen zu finden. / In this PhD-thesis the social context of health selection processes on the German labor market are investigated theoretically and empirically. Based on human capital theory a number of hypotheses about the causal effect of subjective health and sickness absence on job status are derived. The theory is modified to allow the effect of health to vary with the degree of disadvantage a person faces and the degree of social closure of the job. In concrete terms, the moderating effect of gender and public versus private sector are investigated, as well as the occupational gender composition. The empirical analyses are based on the Socio-economic panel study (SOEP) using different methods to estimate causal effects of subjective health on subsequent job status. A decomposition of overall health inequalities into effects attributable to time-constant, time-varying confounders and into health selection processes is presented. The results show that health selection is present for women in the private sector, but not for men nor in the public sector. Sickness absence shows the strongest effects for men in the private sector, but not for women nor in the public sector. For the chosen setting, health selection processes are strongest in open positions and for groups that are disadvantaged.