A prospective analysis of labour market status and self‐rated health in the UK and Russia

Comparing prospective data from the UK and Russia, this paper analyzes whether the association of labour market status, and particularly unemployment, with subsequent health varies by the level of state protection provided to the unemployed. While the UK's unemployment welfare regime is classified as providing minimal protection, the Russian regime is sub‐protective. Employing Cox duration analysis upon data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey and the British Household Panel Survey for the period 2000–2007, this study finds that labour market status and economic circumstances independently predicted individual‐level declines in self‐rated health and, contrary to expectations, the associations of unemployment with health decline were similarly sized in the two countries.