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It is perhaps not surprising that very long hours at work and working while many people relax, for example on weekends, would lead to an overall less happy life. But a new study of workers in the UK found that long cultures and antisocial work schedules affect the sexes in a particular way. Researchers have found that women are hardest hit by very long hours of work, while weekend work has consequences for both men and women, but differently.
A 24/7 global economy, in which permanent work could be supplemented or replaced by flexible "market economy" work, involves more and more people working outside of "normal" hours. "the researchers wrote. This has health impacts. Women who worked particularly long hours (55 hours or more per week) as well as those who worked the most or on weekends were much more likely to experience depressive symptoms than those who worked full-time but less hours or who worked part-time, the research found.
Data were drawn from the longitudinal household survey in the United Kingdom, focusing on a subset of data from 2010-2012 comprising 11,215 men and 12,188 women. The study, written by academics from University College London, was published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
Men in the study tended to work longer than women, with nearly half working more than 35 to 40 hours, which was used in the study as a benchmark for a "normal" workweek. Less than a quarter of women worked during the normal hours of the week and half worked part-time (compared with only 15% of men). In men, the longest working hours were not associated with any significant increase in depressive symptoms as measured by a health questionnaire designed to study psychological distress.
The researchers took into account other factors, such as educational level, marital status, physicality of the job, chronic illness, and whether or not the subjects had children. Although not addressed in this study, women with children are more likely to choose part-time work – often at the expense of their career and salary progression – while their male partners tend to work at home. full time, which partly explains this asymmetry. . The UCL study found that if women were married and had children, they were less likely to work very long, while men in the same situation were more likely.
More than two-thirds of men and half of women worked on weekends. Work weekends had an effect on the well-being of men, but only when other factors were taken into account. Men with "poor psychosocial working conditions" – for example, dissatisfied with their wages or their job – who were also working on weekends were much more likely to be depressed than the rest of the population.
The researchers hypothesized that women working very long hours could work in male-dominated industries, while those working on weekends were likely to work in painful and low-paying jobs like working in public transportation, cleaning and care.
They also noted that much of the work was not counted: women's work outside their jobs.
"Previous studies have shown that once housework and unpaid care are counted, women work on average longer than men, and this has been associated with poorer physical health," the authors wrote. authors. Some women in the study probably work very long hours, then come home to take care of children, housework and other domestic chores, which, according to the authors, could be usefully studied in subsequent research.
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