Young adults who do not work traditional office hours are more likely to have sleep problems and depressive symptoms at the age of 50.
- Having irregular working hours between the ages of 22 and 49 is significantly associated with poor health.
- Working outside of typical office hours is also linked to fewer hours of sleep per day, poorer sleep quality, and poorer physical and mental functions later.
- In addition, the risk of experiencing depressive symptoms at the age of 50 is higher for these workers.
Recent labor market transformations driven by digital and technological advances, as well as the rise of the service economy since the 1980s, have subjected more workers to precarious conditions, such as irregular working hours and low wages, which threatens their economic well-being and health. In a new study, Wen-Jui Han, researcher at New York University (United States), wanted to better understand how working conditions throughout our professional lives can influence our health at the age of 50 years, “paying particular attention to the moderating role of social position.”
Sleep, depression: irregular working hours harm physical and mental health
For the purposes of the work, published in the journal Plos One, the scientist used data from a national cohort, which includes 7,336 participants. People were recruited at the age of 22 and followed for 30 years to assess the quality of their sleep, their physical and mental functions, their probability of reporting poor health and of presenting depressive symptoms at age 50. According to the data, about a quarter of the volunteers had traditional, stable schedules and another third had primarily office hours. Nearly 17% of participants started out with regular schedules in their 20s, before moving to “volatile work patterns,” meaning a combination of evening, night, and variable shifts.
The results showed that people working outside the 9/5 window had poorer health, slept less, had poorer quality sleep, and were more likely to report depressive symptoms at age 50. According to the researcher’s observations, social position plays an important role in these harmful health consequences. “For example, black men who had less than a high school education were most likely to report poor health at age 50 if they had irregular work hours between the ages of 22 and 49. In comparison, white men with a college degree or higher were least likely to report poor health if they had regular, stable schedules. can we read in the works.
“Work has today become a factor of vulnerability for a healthy life”
Wen-Jui Han recalled that irregular working hours were associated with insufficient sleep, physical fatigue and emotional exhaustion. He added that the positive and negative effects of working hours on health can accumulate across the lifespan, while highlighting how employment patterns can contribute to health inequalities. “Work, which is supposed to provide us with resources to help us lead a decent life, has today become a factor of vulnerability for a healthy life due to the increasing precariousness of our working conditions in this increasingly society. more unequal”, does he have concluded.
