Long Working Hours and Job Quality in Europe: Gender and Welfare State Differences.

Lucía Artazcoz,Vicenta Escribà-Agüir,María López,Fernando Benavides,Imma Cortès-Franch

doi:10.3390/ijerph15112592

Abstract

Chronic extreme long working hours (LWH) have been found consistently associated with poor health status. However, the evidence for moderately LWH (41–60 h a week) is contradictory. Although poor job quality has been proposed as one of the mechanisms of this relationship, there are almost no studies about LWH and job quality. The objectives of this study were to analyze the association between moderately LWH and job quality in the EU27, as well as to examine differences by welfare regimes and gender. This is a cross-sectional study based on data from the 2010 European Working Conditions Survey. A subsample of employees from the EU27 aged 16–64 years who worked 30–60 h a week was selected (12,574 men and 8787 women). Overall, moderately LWH were not consistently associated with poor job quality except among women from Eastern European countries. Therefore, in the EU27 poor job quality does not seem to explain the relationship between moderately LWH and poor health status. The findings among women from Eastern European countries may be related to their weakened position in the labor market and to their work-family conflict resulting from a process of re-familisation that constrains their choices for a good job.

Highlights

In recent years the number of studies about the relationship between long working hours (LWH)and health has increased
As has been mentioned before, a previous study based on the 2010 European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), found that moderately LWH were related to poor health outcomes in both sexes in Anglo-Saxon countries, and primarily among women in Continental and Southern European countries
This study found other relevant results regarding the job quality of LWH in the EU27: (1) overall, LWH were not consistently associated with poor job quality; (2) in both sexes LWH were positively associated with non-permanent contracts and work-life conflict but with less time pressure; (3) among men, LWH were consistently related to changing schedules; and (4) only among women from Eastern

Summary

Introduction

In recent years the number of studies about the relationship between long working hours (LWH)and health has increased. In recent years the number of studies about the relationship between long working hours (LWH). A recent systematic review reported associations between LWH (defined as working over 40 h a week) and a range of health outcomes. Most studies found consistent associations with working ≥55 h a week, results for moderately LWH were not consistent [2]. Chronic extreme LWH (>60 h a week), which are quite common in Asia [3], are likely to lead sooner or later to health problems, even in case of a well-designed psychosocial work environment, because they require constant effort of employees and prohibits adequate recovery [4]. Very LWH are not common in Europe—mainly among women—where the European Working Time Directive [5] sets a maximum of 48 h per week

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Discussion

Conclusion