Mortality risk among Black and White working women: the role of perceived work trajectories.

Work can be salubrious, promoting well-being and a sense of accomplishment, or deleterious, when the worker feels that the job is menial or unfulfilling. It is well established that work can shape psychological outlook and mood, but there is also evidence that work can have long-term effects on health and longevity (Su, 2009; Wickrama, Lorenz, Fang, Abraham, & Elder, 2005). This is not limited to those in hazardous occupations but also extends to professional occupations if the work is experienced unfavorably (Sehlen et al., 2009). Some occupations appear to be patently favorable or unfavorable, but there is always some degree of evaluation on the actor’s part in defining and evaluating his or her local work situation. One calculus for doing so is based on life-course processes—situating one’s current position within an occupational history. For instance, transitioning to jobs that are better suited to one’s own values and interests is partially responsible for an increase in job satisfaction as people age (Padavic & Reskin, 2002). In this sense, young adulthood and middle-age may be especially pivotal in evaluating whether one’s line of work holds promise or is perceived as a dead-end job. A number of studies examine how occupational characteristics may be associated with health and longevity, but most rely on cross-sectional analyses or assess work characteristics at one point in the life course. Recently, however, scholars have begun to study how occupational achievement and mobility are related to longevity, albeit in samples of gifted males (Kern, Friedman, Martin, Reynolds, & Luong, 2009) or Union Army Veterans (Su, 2009). By contrast, the present investigation uses a long-term longitudinal study of women to examine how their work lives, including work mobility, may place them at higher risk of early mortality. Given the distinct patterns of labor force participation between White and African American (hereafter, Black) women during the past half century, we give special attention to racial differences in how women view their work lives and the consequences of work trajectories on mortality. Over the past several decades, U.S. women’s participation in the labor force has increased substantially, and research has identified some of the specific conditions under which work is beneficial to health and survival (Klumb & Lampert, 2004; Pavalko & Smith, 1999). Despite women’s general workplace advancement, Black and White women differ considerably in their work trajectories (Padavic & Reskin, 2002). Black women are more likely to face low-status jobs, little room for advancement, lower earnings, and a greater risk of unemployment than their White counterparts (U.S. Department of Labor, 2008). This divergence means that the purported benefits of work may be less likely for Black than for White women. The present study aims to enhance our knowledge of racial disparities in longevity by examining the long-term consequences of women’s work at midlife. We view the link between careers and survival as resting on both objective changes in occupation and income along with more subjective elements of how women view their careers. We use cumulative inequality (CI) theory to examine how work disadvantages lead to the ultimate life course risk— premature mortality—and examine how this risk accumulates differently for Black and White women.