Sickness, insurance and health: assessing trends in morbidity through friendly-society records

Claudia Edwards, Martin Gorsky, Bernard Harris, Andrew Hinde

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

    13 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a large number of working-class men (and a much smaller number of working-class women) sought to protect themselves against the financial risks of sickness and old age by joining friendly societies. Although these organisations have often been studied as cultural institutions and as providers of welfare services, researchers have also attempted to use the surviving records as sources for the study of health and morbidity. In this paper, we report our own efforts to investigate the health experience of individuals belonging to one particular friendly society, the Hampshire Friendly Society, in the south of England. We begin by setting out some of the empirical and conceptual issues associated with the derivation of morbidity trends from health insurance records. We shall then go on to present new findings regarding the effect of short-term factors, such as disease outbreaks and administrative changes, on the pattern of sickness claims; the relationship between age and morbidity; and the different headings under which claims were submitted.
    LanguageEnglish
    Pages131-167
    Number of pages37
    JournalAnnales de Démographie Historique
    Volume1
    Issue number105
    Publication statusPublished - 2003

    Fingerprint

    morbidity
    insurance
    illness
    working class
    trend
    health
    cultural institution
    old age
    health insurance
    nineteenth century
    twentieth century
    welfare
    Disease
    society
    Society
    experience

    Keywords

    • sickness
    • health insurance
    • health
    • morbidity
    • friendly societies

    Cite this

    Edwards, Claudia ; Gorsky, Martin ; Harris, Bernard ; Hinde, Andrew. / Sickness, insurance and health : assessing trends in morbidity through friendly-society records. In: Annales de Démographie Historique. 2003 ; Vol. 1, No. 105. pp. 131-167.
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    Edwards, C, Gorsky, M, Harris, B & Hinde, A 2003, 'Sickness, insurance and health: assessing trends in morbidity through friendly-society records' Annales de Démographie Historique, vol. 1, no. 105, pp. 131-167.

    Sickness, insurance and health : assessing trends in morbidity through friendly-society records. / Edwards, Claudia; Gorsky, Martin; Harris, Bernard; Hinde, Andrew.

    In: Annales de Démographie Historique, Vol. 1, No. 105, 2003, p. 131-167.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

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    AU - Harris, Bernard

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    KW - health

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    Edwards C, Gorsky M, Harris B, Hinde A. Sickness, insurance and health: assessing trends in morbidity through friendly-society records. Annales de Démographie Historique. 2003;1(105):131-167.

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