Do working hours affect health? Evidence from statutory workweek regulations in Germany

Cygan-Rehm, Kamila; Wunder, Christoph

doi:10.1016/j.labeco.2018.05.003

Cited by 32 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Thus, pressure might be a barrier to healthy eating and physical activity [40] which in turn are associated with factors such as self-esteem or sleep quality [41]. We think that our findings are in line with a recent longitudinal study based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), which shows that increasing working hours also increases the number of doctor visits in women [42]. They also assume that the dual home (paid work and in home) may explain this link.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Are perceived bad working conditions and perceived workplace bullying associated with doctor visits? Results of the nationally representative German General Social Survey

Hajek

König

2019

BMC Health Serv Res

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Background The reason for doctor visits associated with bad working conditions (and workplace bullying) remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the association between perceived working conditions as well as workplace bullying and the number of doctor visits as well as the reason for seeing a doctor. Methods Data were derived from the German General Social Survey, a representative cross-section of the population in the year 2014. Self-reported doctor visits in the last 3 months were used as outcome measure. Self-rated working conditions (noise, bad air; time/performance pressure; bad working atmosphere; overtime; shifts/night work; hard physical labour) and workplace bullying were assessed. The reason for seeing a doctor was also recorded (acute illness; chronic illness; feeling unwell; requesting advice; visit to the doctor’s office without consulting the doctor (e.g., need to get a prescription); preventive medical check-up/vaccination). Regression analysis stratified by sex was conducted. Results Adjusting for various potential confounders, Poisson regressions showed that workplace bullying was associated with increased doctor visits in men, but not in women. Contrarily, time/performance pressure at work was only associated with increased doctor visits in women, but not in men. Furthermore, the probability of visiting the doctor for reasons of acute illness or feeling unwell increased with workplace bullying in men. The probability of visiting the doctor because of feeling unwell increased with time/performance pressure in women. Conclusions Our findings stress the association between adverse working conditions (workplace bullying as well as time/performance pressure at work) and doctor visits, with remarkable gender differences. Longitudinal studies are required to confirm the present findings and to obtain further insights into this relationship.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Are perceived bad working conditions and perceived workplace bullying associated with doctor visits? Results of the nationally representative German General Social Survey

Hajek

König

2019

BMC Health Serv Res

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“…After the International Labour Organization (ILO) convention (C001) introduced a maximum working time of 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week in 1919, the reduction of the legal working week has been widely adopted around the world . Driven by legislation, shorter working hours have become a general trend . However, approximately one‐third of the world's workforce still works more than 48 hours per week .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are long working hours associated with weight‐related outcomes? A meta‐analysis of observational studies

et al. 2019

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The relationship between long working hours and body weight outcomes remains inconclusive; thus, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the effect of long working hours on weight-related outcomes. PubMed and Embase databases were searched from their inception to June 2019. A random-effects model was used to assess the pooled odds ratio (OR) and corresponding confidence interval (CI). Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore sources of heterogeneity. Publication bias was evaluated by the Begg's and Egger's tests. A total of 29 articles involving 374 863 participants were included. The pooled OR of long working hours on weightrelated outcomes was 1.13 (95% CI, 1.07-1.19). In subgroup analysis stratified by definition of outcomes, the pooled ORs of long working hours on "weight gain/BMI increase," "BMI ≥ 25 kg/m 2 ," and "BMI ≥ 30 kg/m 2 " were 1.19 (95% CI, 1.02-1.40), 1.07 (95% CI, 1.00-1.14), and 1.23 (95% CI, 1.09-1.39), respectively. We found evidence of publication bias, but correction for this bias using the trim-and-fill method did not alter the combined OR substantially. There was evidence to suggest that long working hours are associated with adverse weight-related outcomes. Preventative interventions such as improved flexibility and healthy working schedules should be established for employees.

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“…More specifically, and pertaining to the question at hand about the link between hours of work and mental health in the form of work fatigue, we note the contributions of Cygan-Rehm and Wunder (2018) and Banerjee et al (2017). Cygan-Rehm and Wunder (2018) find that when hours worked increase, both objective and subjective health measures decrease. In particular, mental health is more affected than physical health, landing ever more support to the idea that we must understand the link between labour supply decisions and mental health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Work Intensity and Labour Supply

Donsimoni

2020

Preprint

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We develop a model where individuals accumulate fatigue from work intensity when choosing hours worked. Fatigue captures intertemporal costs of labour supply and leads to a utility loss. As fatigue increases, individuals optimally choose to work fewer hours. The model also predicts that if individuals cannot easily shift consumption over time, they will work fewer hours but accumulate more fatigue when work intensity increases. Calibration to 19 European countries provides evidence for the claim that a higher share of the service sector is linked to increasing work fatigue and that public provisions of healthcare improves recovery and mental health.

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Do working hours affect health? Evidence from statutory workweek regulations in Germany

Cited by 32 publications

References 39 publications

Are perceived bad working conditions and perceived workplace bullying associated with doctor visits? Results of the nationally representative German General Social Survey

Are perceived bad working conditions and perceived workplace bullying associated with doctor visits? Results of the nationally representative German General Social Survey

Are long working hours associated with weight‐related outcomes? A meta‐analysis of observational studies

Work Intensity and Labour Supply

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