Work hours constraints and health

Arbeitspapier

The issue of whether employees who work more hours than they want to suffer adverse health consequences is important not only at the individual level but also for governmental formation of work time policy. Our study investigates this question by analyzing the impact of the discrepancy between actual and desired work hours on self-perceived health outcomes in Germany and the United Kingdom. Based on nationally representative longitudinal data, our results show that work-hour mismatches (i.e., differences between actual and desired hours) have negative effects on workers' health. In particular, we show that overemployment - working more hours than desired - has negative effects on different measures of self-perceived health.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: FZID Discussion Paper ; No. 36-2011

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Health: General ; Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure ; Time Allocation and Labor Supply
• Subject: work time ; hours constraints ; health, Germany ; United Kingdom

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Bell, David ; Otterbach, Steffen ; Sousa-Poza, Alfonso
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Universität Hohenheim, Forschungszentrum Innovation und Dienstleistung (FZID)
• (where): Stuttgart
• (when): 2011

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/52389
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:100-opus-6555
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET