A transversal study was carried out to define the profile of Brazilian women included in the labor market comparatively to men. It took into consideration their social-demographic characteristics and some aspects related to both, their health and work social-economic situations. Information was obtained from the year 2003 PNAD-IBGE (National Household Sample Survey) data. The sample included 173.094 people, with defined occupation and with 10 or more years of age. The statistical approach included description of the sample, comparison of general occupational characteristics of women and men as well as a comparison of their health conditions, calculating prevalence ratios and confidence intervals. The results showed statistically significant differences for the majority of the variables investigated. Comparatively to men, women have higher educational profile, lower income, fewer hours of paid work and longer time spent on household tasks. Differences were found in the distribution of women and men in the occupational groupings. It was also shown that female workers have higher prevalence of chronic diseases and poorer health. The results obtained emphasize that more research on gender, work, and health must be carried out in order to identify and clarify the role of work in the differences found.
workers' health; female labor; work and health; gender and health
