Promoting Labour market participation of the chronically ill - a comparative study (PROCHRO)

People with chronic diseases have higher risks of unemployment and fewer opportunities for labour market participation compared with those without such conditions. Policy goals of labour market inclusion for the chronically ill or impaired have been on the agenda since the end of the 1960s and have later been reinforced by governments of various compositions. Providing knowledge on how to prolong and increase labour market participation of the chronically ill should be of great interest as even small increases may represent substantial individual life quality improvements and societal cost reductions. Expecting higher average age of retirement in the general population in years to come, addressing the situation for the chronically ill is even more pressing, since prevalence of chronic illnesses increase with age. Structural, organizational and economic factors can cause unwarranted variation in quality, quantity and distribution of health, labour and welfare services. In this project we study whether variations in provision of labour, welfare and health services across municipalities influence the labour market participation of the chronically ill.