Long working hours and health status among employees in Europe: between-country differences (original) (raw)
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Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2009
Text wordcount 3839 in text; 250 in summary; 4 tables; 1 figure; 50 references SUMMARY Background: The objectives of this study are to identify family and job characteristics associated with long workhours, to analyse the relationship between long workhours and several health indicators and to examine whether gender differences for both objectives exist.
Long Working Hours and Job Quality in Europe: Gender and Welfare State Differences
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2018
Chronic extreme long working hours (LWH) have been found consistently associated with poor health status. However, the evidence for moderately LWH (41-60 h a week) is contradictory. Although poor job quality has been proposed as one of the mechanisms of this relationship, there are almost no studies about LWH and job quality. The objectives of this study were to analyze the association between moderately LWH and job quality in the EU27, as well as to examine differences by welfare regimes and gender. This is a cross-sectional study based on data from the 2010 European Working Conditions Survey. A subsample of employees from the EU27 aged 16-64 years who worked 30-60 h a week was selected (12,574 men and 8787 women). Overall, moderately LWH were not consistently associated with poor job quality except among women from Eastern European countries. Therefore, in the EU27 poor job quality does not seem to explain the relationship between moderately LWH and poor health status. The findings among women from Eastern European countries may be related to their weakened position in the labor market and to their work-family conflict resulting from a process of re-familisation that constrains their choices for a good job.
The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 2021
Background: Studies on the association between long working hours and health have captured only a narrow range of outcomes (mainly cardiometabolic diseases and depression) and no outcome-wide studies on this topic are available. To achieve wider scope of potential harm, we examined long working hours as a risk factor for a wide range of disease and mortality endpoints. Methods: The data of this multicohort study were from two population cohorts from Finland (primary analysis, n=59 599) and nine cohorts (replication analysis, n=44 262) from Sweden, Denmark, and the UK, all part of the Individual-participant Meta-analysis in Working Populations (IPD-Work) consortium. Baselineassessed long working hours (55 hours per week) were compared to standard working hours (35-40 h). Outcome measures with follow-up until age 65 years were 46 diseases that required hospital treatment or continuous pharmacotherapy, all-cause, and three cause-specific mortality endpoints, ascertained via linkage to national health and mortality registers. Findings: 2747 (4¢6%) participants in the primary cohorts and 3027 (6¢8%) in the replication cohorts worked long hours. After adjustment for age, sex, and socioeconomic status, working long hours was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular death (hazard ratio 1¢68; 95% confidence interval 1¢08-2¢61 in primary analysis and 1¢52; 0¢90-2¢58 in replication analysis), infections (1¢37; 1¢13-1¢67 and 1¢45; 1¢13-1¢87), diabetes (1¢18; 1¢01-1¢38 and 1¢41; 0¢98-2¢02), injuries (1¢22; 1¢00-1¢50 and 1¢18; 0¢98-1¢18) and musculoskeletal disorders (1¢15; 1¢06-1¢26 and 1¢13; 1¢00-1¢27). Working long hours was not associated with all-cause mortality. Interpretation: Follow-up of 50 health outcomes in four European countries suggests that working long hours is associated with an elevated risk of early cardiovascular death and hospital-treated infections before age
Frontiers in Public Health, 2022
Objectives: This study examined the gender and crosscountry differences in the relationship between working hours and self-assessed health among working men and women in Europe, and further explored the moderating role of sleep disturbance in the relationship. Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the 6th European Working Condition Survey on 14,603 men and 15,486 women across 30 countries in Europe. A multivariate logistic regression was applied to evaluate the relationship between working hours, sleep disturbance, and self-assessed health. In addition, we employed a two-stage multilevel logistic regression to assess the crosscountry variations in the relationship between working hours and self-assessed health. Results: The study showed a slightly U-shaped relationship between working hours and less-than-good self-assessed health among working adults in Europe (<31 h: aOR
Combining employment and family in Europe: the role of family policies in health
The European Journal of Public Health, 2013
Objectives: The objectives of this study were: (i) to analyse the relationship between health status and paid working hours and household composition in the EU-27, and (ii) to examine whether patterns of association differ as a function of family policy typologies and gender. Methods: Cross-sectional study based on data from the 5th European Working Conditions Survey of 2010. The sample included married or cohabiting employees aged 25-64 years from the EU-27 (10,482 men and 8,882 women). The dependent variables were self-perceived health status and psychological well-being. Results: Irrespective of differences in family policy typologies between countries, working long hours was more common among men, and part-time work was more common among women. In Continental and Southern European countries, employment and family demands were associated with poor health status in both sexes, but more consistently among women. In Anglo-Saxon countries, the association was mainly limited to men. Finally, in Nordic and Eastern European countries, employment and family demands were largely unassociated with poor health outcomes in both sexes. Conclusions: The combination of employment and family demands is largely unassociated with health status in countries with dual-earner family policy models, but is associated with poorer health outcomes in countries with market-oriented models, mainly among men. This association is more consistent among women in countries with traditional models, where males are the breadwinners and females are responsible for domestic and care work.
BMC Public Health
Background: The pressing demands of work over the years have had a significant constraint on the family and social life of working adults. Moreover, failure to achieve a 'balance' between these domains of life may have an adverse effect on their health. This study investigated the relationship between work-life conflict and self-reported health among working adults in contemporary welfare countries in Europe. Methods: Data from the 6th European Working Conditions Survey 2015 on 32,275 working adults from 30 countries in Europe were analysed. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between work-life balance and self-reported health among men and women. We further used a 2 stage multi-level logistic regression to assess variations in self-reported health among welfare state regimes by gender. Results: The results showed a strong association between work-life conflict and poor self-reported health among working adults in Europe (aOR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.93-2.23). However, the magnitude of the effect differed slightly by gender (men: aOR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.78-2.18 vs women: aOR = 2.23; 95% CI: 2.01-2.47). Furthermore, we found variations in the relationship between work-life conflict and poor self-reported health between welfare states regimes. The association was found to be weaker in the Nordic and Southern welfare states than the Liberal, Conservative, and Central Eastern European welfare states. Although the associations were more consistent among men than women in the Conservative welfare states regime, we found higher associations for women than men in the Southern, Nordic, Liberal, and Central Eastern European welfare states. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of some variations in the association between work-life conflict and poor self-reported health among men and women across welfare states regimes in Europe. The results demonstrate the need for governments, organizations and policymakers to provide conducive working conditions and social policies for working adults to deal with competing demands from work and family activities.
The effects of hours of work on health: A meta-analytic review
Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 1997
A quantitative and qualitative review of existing literature on working hours and health was carried out. Meta-analyses were performed on 21 study samples. Results indicated small, but significant positive mean correlations between overall health symptoms, physiological and psychological health symptoms, and hours of work. Qualitative analysis of 12 other studies supported these findings ofa positive relationship between hours of work and ill-health. Different factors which may obscure the relationship between health and hours of work are discussed, together with other moderating influences. Taking these into account it is proposed that the results of the meta-analyses together with the qualitative analysis offer support for a link between hours of work and illhealth. Mann (1965) suggested over 30 years ago that 'hours of work have long been recognized as having a marked effect on the way an individual and his family lives'. Research investigating the relationship between work hours and health, produced findings which raised concern about the impact of long work hours on an individual's well-being. Buell & Breslow (1960), for example, found a higher incidence of coronary heart disease in men who worked over 48 hours per week. Thirty years later work hours and health are still an important issue. Due to increasing workloads, job insecurity, and pressures to perform, many individuals are working longer hours. Work overload, resulting in longer hours of work, has been linked with stress (Cooper, Davidson & Robinson, 1982), indefinite complaints (McCall, 1988) and fatigue (Ono, Watanabe, Kaneko, Matsumoto & Miyako (1991). Working long hours can overtire an individual mentally and physically. This, together with the prolonged exposure to any workplace stressors can obviously affect one's health. Aside from symptoms of ill-health, long working hours have been associated with poor lifestyle habits such as heavy smoking, inadequate diet, lack of exercise (e.g. Maruyama, Kohno & Morimoto, 1995). These behaviours, themselves, can lead to health problems. *Requests for reprints. 392 Kate Sparks et al. Although many countries in Europe have introduced reduced working times, a recent survey by Eurostat (the European Commission's statistical office) found that the UK is the only member state where the number of hours worked each week has increased over the past decade. Britain works on average 44.7 hours a week, the highest in Europe (Rubery, Smith & Fagan, 1995). Indeed, the European Commission, in the 1994 Employment in Europe survey, reported that almost half of the seven million male workers in the EU who work over 48 hours a week are employed in Britain. Working time trends in other European countries are between 30 and 40 hours a week. For example, employees in Germany work on average 36 hours per week, Italian workers 36-39 hours, and Belgian workers 38 hours per week (Wedderburn, 1996).
A balancing act? Work-life balance, health and well-being in European welfare states
The European Journal of Public Health, 2014
Background: Recent analyses have shown that adverse psychosocial working conditions, such as job strain and effort-reward imbalance, vary by country and welfare state regimes. Another work-related factor with potential impact on health is a poor work-life balance. The aims of this study are to determine the association between a poor work-life balance and poor health across a variety of European countries and to explore the variation of work-life balance between European countries. Methods: Data from the 2010 European Working Conditions Survey were used with 24 096 employees in 27 European countries. Work-life balance is measured with a question on the fit between working hours and family or social commitments. The WHO-5 well-being index and self-rated general health are used as health indicators. Logistic multilevel models were calculated to assess the association between work-life balance and health indicators and to explore the between-country variation of a poor work-life balance. Results: Employees reporting a poor work-life balance reported more health problems (Poor well-being: OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.83-2.31; Poor self-rated health: OR = 2.00, 95% CI = 1.84-2.17). The associations were very similar for men and women. A considerable part of the between-country variation of work-life balance is explained by working hours, working time regulations and welfare state regimes. The best overall work-life balance is reported by Scandinavian men and women. Conclusion: This study provides some evidence on the public health impact of a poor work-life balance and that working time regulations and welfare state characteristics can influence the work-life balance of employees.
The Effects of Working Hours on Health Status and Health Behaviors
2012
This study measures the effect of the amount of working hours on workers ’ health status and health behaviors. To deal with the endogeneity of the number of hours worked I use a quasi-experiment: the change in the legal maximum workweek hours in France enacted in 1998. The estimated effects, while moderate, are all consistent with the idea that less working hours improves health behaviors. In particular, this paper shows that a reduction of working time is associated with a drop in the probability of smoking, in alcohol consumption, and in physical inactivity. I do not find a direct effect of working time on health status measures (self-assessed health status and an index of vital risk), probably because I only capture shortrun effects. However, since health behaviors directly affect future health outcomes, we should expect a long run effect of the number of hours worked on individual’s health, through these changes on health behaviors.