CHAPTER 9

Employment, Working Conditions, and Health

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The virtuous circle pertaining to employment refers to the cumulative ________ effect of employment in ________ status jobs.
   1. positive; high
   2. negative; high
   3. negative; low
   4. positive; low
2. De-skilling refers to the fact that ________.
   1. most workers today are lacking essential skills
   2. most university programs do not teach the skills needed by the employer
   3. there is a push to hire less skilled personnel to save costs
   4. most entry-level jobs now go to recent immigrants
3. The following statement regarding health and jobs is TRUE: ________.
   1. In general, people in jobs requiring higher education, such as medicine or law, are less healthy than manual workers
   2. Employment and health are unrelated
   3. While we see some correlation between health and employment, most of it can be explained by confounding variables
   4. In general, people in stable, well-paying jobs are healthier than people in unstable or poorly-paying jobs
4. The following is NOT a work-related health factor: ________.
   1. physical aspects of work and the workplace
   2. work-related resources and opportunities
   3. how work is organized
   4. the gender of other workers
5. ________ are at the highest risk of unemployment.
   1. High school graduates
   2. College graduates
   3. People with an undergraduate degree
   4. People with a masters’, doctoral, or professional degrees
6. The following statement regarding unemployment is TRUE: ________.
   1. The rates of unemployment are higher in places where there is more generous unemployment insurance
   2. Unemployed people experience less stress than employed ones
   3. Unemployed people in general are happier than employed people
   4. More generous unemployment assistance can mitigate some of the negative health risks associated with unemployment
7. Loss of personal resources and increased personal stress as a result of unemployment is ________ level of causality.
   1. individual
   2. intermediate
   3. meso
   4. macro
8. The negative effects of unemployment ________.
   1. increase with the frequency of periods of unemployment
   2. occur regardless of the quality of the job lost
   3. arise solely because of loss of income
   4. occur only at the level of the individual
9. ________ is NOT one of the trends that we are currently experiencing in the nature of employment.
   1. Privatization
   2. De-skilling
   3. Large-scale manufacturing
   4. De-unionization
10. “Knowledge economies” refers to _____
    1. governments and companies seeking to pursue economic growth by capitalizing on technical innovations
    2. the growing popularity of secondary and post-secondary education
    3. economies that rely on government-subsidized training of workforce
    4. international migration of highly skilled individuals
11. The following statement is FALSE: ________.
    1. Most finished products in Canada are being imported rather than manufactured locally
    2. In Canada, traditional production jobs have been replaced by service jobs, most of which are low-end jobs
    3. The effects of de-skilling include depression of wages and replacement of highly-skilled personnel with lower-skilled
    4. The number of unions in the past 15 years in Canada has increased dramatically
12. Isostrain is produced by ________.
    1. prolonged periods forced physical inactivity during work
    2. chronic stress and excessive demands at work
    3. globalization and transition to knowledge economies
    4. predisposition to weight gain and diabetes
13. The demand–control model of workplace impacts on health measures ________.
    1. the relationship between the demands made of an employee and the capacity to meet those demands
    2. the demands placed on one’s body and the response of the worker to those demands
    3. the impact of metabolic disorders on personal health
    4. the impact of brain growth and the demands that this growth places on the body
14. According to the effort–reward model of workplace impacts on health, ________ can be considered a reward.
    1. less work
    2. punishment for failure to meet employer expectations
    3. employer recognition
    4. transfer to a more demanding job
15. ________ refers to the extra fat around the mid-section, insulin resistance, and elevated blood pressure.
    1. Isostrain
    2. Carpal tunnel syndrome
    3. Metabolic syndrome
    4. Obesity
16. The following statement about Keynesianism is FALSE: ________.
    1. Modern governments need to intervene in order to ensure than employment remains at the highest-sustainable level
    2. Boosting employment levels and wages is the chief prerequisite for steady economic growth
    3. There is a greater need to invest in high-income, high-skilled jobs than in manual work
    4. Maximizing employment is the key to economic growth
17. To count as “unemployed” in Canada, you must be ________.
    1. recently out of work
    2. actively seeking work
    3. out of work for at least six weeks
    4. fired by your last employer
18. The following best summarizes the difference between Liberal regime countries’ approach to workplace training and education and that of northern European countries (e.g. Denmark): ________.
    1. Northern European countries expect workers to come “job ready”
    2. In liberal regime countries, employers invest heavily in workplace training
    3. Work security and full-time work is less robust in European countries than in Liberal regime ones
    4. Canada and the United States have a bigger disconnect between training/education and workplace needs than many European countries
19. In general, illness in the workplace today in Canada is most likely to result from ________.
    1. an exposure to hazardous materials at the workplace
    2. unpaid overtime
    3. eye sight loss
    4. repetitive strain injury
20. The implications of shift work are ________.
    1. mostly positive and are associated with better health
    2. mostly positive and are associated with better ability to juggle work and family life
    3. mostly negative for health, especially for women
    4. positive for men, but not for women

True or False Questions

1. Unemployment may affect health of individuals at the individual, family, and community level.
2. Today, developed countries such as Canada undergo accelerated industrialization due to globalization.
3. The demand–control model of workplace impacts on health focuses on the relationship between demands placed on the workers and their ability to meet those demands.
4. The effort–reward model of workplace impacts on health suggests that differences in pay between highly-skilled professions (such as medicine) and lower skilled jobs (such as cleaning) are due to differences in effort required to obtained training in higher-skilled professions.
5. The usual effect of privatization is to have higher paid, skilled workers replaced by lower-paid employees who experience less job security, less control over the work, and lower wages and benefits.
6. In the capitalist West, people in the lowest quality, worst-paid jobs are at the greater risk of unemployment, whereas people in the best quality, highest paid jobs are at the least risk of unemployment.
7. Keynesianism strongly supports a neo-liberal approach to the economy.
8. One of the benefits of the Canadian labour market is that it allows its workers to exercise considerable control over the work process, and how it is to be done and scheduled. This is especially evident when Canada is compared to other developed countries, such as Germany or Japan.
9. Shift work is highly beneficial for human health as it provides the much-needed opportunity to change daily routines.
10. Distances travelled by private vehicle to work, the time required, and the density of traffic encountered have all increased dramatically in Canada.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the features of the changing nature of employment in Canada?
2. What is isostrain? How does it occur? Illustrate your understanding with an example.
3. What is the effort–reward model? Illustrate your understanding with an example.
4. What is the demand–control model? Illustrate your understanding with an example.
5. Does Canada have a family-friendly work policy? Explain your answer.

Essay Questions

1. Explain how work affects health.
2. Describe how globalization and knowledge economy affect workplace and employment.
3. Describe Keynesianism and its demise. What are some of the major differences between Keynesianism and our current economic policies?