Workers in insecure jobs use sickness benefit less, Swedish report finds

Workers without permanent contracts use Sweden's sickness benefit much less often than permanent employees, a new Försäkringskassan report has found. The gap is widest among foreign-born people on low incomes.

The register-based report compares benefit use with employment type and income. It says lower use does not prove better health. Agency analyst Per Janson said job insecurity, concern about future income or poor knowledge of the insurance may make it harder to take sick leave when needed.

Among people born abroad, sickness-benefit use was lower for those without permanent jobs at every income level. For Swedish-born workers, the picture varied: those without permanent jobs on medium or high incomes sometimes used the benefit more.

People running their own limited companies used sickness benefit less often than permanent employees, but their cases lasted longer when they did apply. Försäkringskassan said the differences show that employment and financial conditions may affect who can use Sweden's sickness insurance in practice.

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