The line graph illustrates the proportion of workers based on the number of sick days taken daily or more in five modern European countries, namely Netherlands, Sweden, France, the UK, and Germany, between the years 1991 and 2001.
Although there were minor fluctuations, in terms of the overall sick day patterns, Sweden witnessed a downward trend, while the UK and Germany remained relatively unchanged for the better parts of the period. Notably, France experienced a substantial growth, thus surpassing Sweden to follow closely Netherlands where becoming the dominant figure in this category through all periods in question.
As the graph shows, Netherlands recorded annually at 5% in the initial year before experiencing an increase to 6% , in 1992. This rising trajectory followed by another one towards the end of the period, hovering around the same level of the year 1992. Similarly,in the first year, Sweden began the period at the same level of Netherlands, with 5%,but then it declined tremendously, reaching a low of approximately 3% in 2001.
Regarding the proportion of France, it amounted to 3 % in the initial year before a gradual rise, ending up at 5% in the year 2001. By contrast, the UK and Germany began the period with approximately 2.5% and 1.5%, and remained relatively steady at these levels until 2001.