In a fast-paced world where work schedules extend beyond the traditional 9-5 framework, the importance of quality sleep cannot be overstated. But sleep, a cornerstone of our overall health and well-being, is increasingly compromised by atypical work patterns with knock-on consequences for people’s health, productivity and the economy. As part of her PhD, Gill Weston…
Tag: Health
Do family-friendly policies lead to long-term wellbeing?
France has long been known as a country where working parents are supported, with good family benefits and leave entitlements. But how good is the mental health of women who had full-time careers while bringing up a family in France? In this blog, Constance Beaufils of the National Institute for Demographic Studies in Paris describes…
Unsocial working hours: are these compatible for parents and families?
A recently-launched Parliamentary inquiry is asking if policy needs to be changed to deal with the personal impact of night time or shift work. So how do unsocial working hours affect parents? Afshin Zilanawala from the University of Southampton and Anne McMunn from the ESRC International Centre for Lifecourse Studies at University College London discuss…
Let’s be fair! The importance of a balanced approach as we extend working lives
Extending people’s working lives has become a well-established policy in many parts of Europe as governments seek to reduce state pension costs in the context of growing ageing populations. But there are concerns about the health of older workers and what poor health among workers might mean for sickness absence rates and social security costs….
Who suffers most from the health effects of long-term work stress?
As populations across the developed world grow older, Governments are keen to find ways to enable workers to stay active and fit for longer. We know work-related stress can lead to long-term health problems: but which types of employment histories are particularly harmful, and how do the effects play out over time? A new study…
Youth unemployment and later mental ill-health: who is at risk?
The pandemic has brought links between unemployment and mental health to the fore. With joblessness having risen across the globe, new research looking at the longer-term effects is particularly timely. Liam Wright and colleagues from UCL’s Department of Epidemiology and Public health describe new research which could motivate efforts to target vulnerable groups and use…
Could having a psychologically demanding job actually be good for you?
Recent research has highlighted that those in psychologically demanding jobs which don’t offer possibility of control are more likely to become ill or to leave the labour market early. But a new study carried out in Sweden suggests the picture may be more complex than previously thought – for some workers, having a demanding job…
Lockdown – just how stressful has it been?
2020 is a year many will be happy to see the back of. It has been a stressful time for sure with periods of lockdown creating major challenges for our day to day work and family lives. But have the stresses and strains associated with lockdown affected the mental health of the UK population as…
Working and caring: the mental health toll of combining paid work and childcare during lockdown
Baowen Xue and Anne McMunn from the ESRC International Centre for Lifecourse Studies at University College London discuss new research showing that women spent considerably more time than men undertaking housework and childcare during lockdown and the knock on for working parents’ mental health, particularly that of lone mothers. They explain how the analysis adds…
Retirement: is it good for your mental health?
Retirement has traditionally been seen as a stressful time, with disruption to routines bringing potential health hazards. Recently this assumption has been challenged – maybe retirement could actually be a relief to many people. But the evidence so far has been mixed. Now a new study by Maria Fleischmann and colleagues from the renEWL project at…