Long working hours hurt health and family

Citation

(1999), "Long working hours hurt health and family", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 20 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj.1999.02220dab.005

Long working hours hurt health and family

Keywords: Working hours, Family life, Health

Working long hours is bad for your health, bad for family life and may also be bad for your children’s educational performance, according to analysis of research carried out at the ESRC’s Research Centre on Microsocial Change.

The research, which was featured in BBC TV’s Panorama programme, indicated that the situation was much worse for women working long hours.

High blood pressure, increased smoking and physical problems with arms, legs and hands, were all identified as direct consequences of moving from standard hours to a longer working week. Men and women who worked long hours were the least likely to talk on a regular basis to their children, take exercise or visit or be visited by friends. Surprisingly, those working the longest hours expressed the most satisfaction – though the majority in this category were self-employed men.

Professor Richard Scase, with Jonathan Scales and Colin Smith at Exeter University, carried out the research based on an analysis of the ESRC-conducted British Household Panel Study, which annually interviews the same 5,000 households. They examined the causal relationship between long work hours and individual health and well-being. Their initial findings identified negative health consequences – especially those that may go unnoticed over time, including high blood pressure and increased stress levels.

Professor Scase identified a relationship between longer working hours and poor family communications at a crucial stage of their children’s development. Forty per cent of men and 74 per cent of women interviewed, who were working more than 60 hours a week, had children under 12. Parents working very long hours were most likely to report difficulty managing their children and least likely to talk to their children on a daily basis (only 26 per cent of fathers working over 48 hours a week talk to their children most days compared with 42 per cent of fathers working 30-40 hours a week).

Further information from Professor Richard Scase, telephone 01206 872645, or Jonathan Scales, telephone 07771 858372.