Abstract
BackgroundHealth should be a key focus in considerations of long working hours. Little is known about for which groups of people working longer hours is more harmful to their health. Additionally, the definition of long working hours varies slightly due to country differences in working hours systems. Therefore, this study aims to explore the association between long working hours and the self-rated health (SRH) level, taking into account gender and educational differences.MethodData were collected from two waves (2016 and 2018) of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). A total of 6972 workers were available for analysis. Descriptive statistical analysis, an ordered probit (oprobit) model and conditional mixed process (CMP) regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Furthermore, I conducted a stratified analysis by gender and education groups.ResultThis study observed a negative association between long working hours and SRH. Compared to other education groups, labor with long working hours had a more negative impact on the SRH of those with higher education. Long working hours had a more negative influence on the SRH of male workers. In contrast, no clear association was found among female workers.ConclusionThis study estimates SRH of those with long working hours in China. Among workers, long working hours have a negative impact on the health of workers with college degrees or beyond. One possible explanation is that they do not exercise, their diet is unreasonable, and their working conditions involve chronic exposure to computer radiation. The negative health effects of long working hours on males are four times greater than those on females. This study provides valuable insights into the health of the workforce, working time regulations and overtime rules.
Highlights
Health should be a key focus in considerations of long working hours
This paper focused on the relationship between long working hours and the physical health of the labor force, and the explanatory variable, self-rated health (SRH), as multi-ordered data, was unsuitable for ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation
Columns (1)–(3) are the ordered probit, extended regression models (ERMs), and conditional mixed process (CMP) regressions results, which suggest that, all other things being equal, long working hours were negatively correlated with health across the entire sample; these results were significant at the 5– 10% levels
Summary
Health should be a key focus in considerations of long working hours. Little is known about for which groups of people working longer hours is more harmful to their health. This study aims to explore the association between long working hours and the self-rated health (SRH) level, taking into account gender and educational differences. Excessive labor has slowly become common due to the continuously extended working hours of workers, which have a direct impact on their health level and harms economic development and social stability. Reflecting an individual’s subjective assessment of his or her health status, quality of life indicators are very rigorous in their data requirements. Subjective measures, such as self-assessed health (SAH) or satisfaction with one’s own health, provide valuable insights because they might respond more quickly to changes in working time than objective indicators, such as the frequency of doctor visits or absences from work due to sickness
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