ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the span of time covered by the studies overlaps with a secular decline in the numbers employed in manual work, and includes a recent period in which those employed in producing goods have fallen particularly sharply, while those employed in providing services have increased even more. Some services are in distribution (such as shops), some in banking and insurance, some in education, health and welfare. The Health and Lifestyle Survey was based on a stratified random cluster sample of the population of Britain aged 18 and over in private households in 1984. Initial contact with members of the sample was for interview, and subsequent data collection was by self completion questionnaires and measurements by health professionals. The effect of labour market fluctuations on the health of the workforce and their dependents has long been a matter of controversy. There is evidence that individual unemployment produces ill-health.
