A multitude of scientific studies link long working hours with the physical and emotional deterioration of people. It is more than known that our dizzying pace of life, with untimely schedules that affect our rest and hours of sleep, is associated with diseases that undermine our well-being on a daily basis: stress, mood swings, cognitive alterations, risk of obesity , diabetes and other cardiovascular pathologies, etc. These effects are not immediate for everyone. But sooner or later, we all end up paying for it.
Research recently published in the journal PLOS by Dr. Wen-Jui Han of New York University explains how the employment patterns we adopt during our youth can significantly impact our health decades later. Especially after 50 years of age. Dr. Han’s team analyzed more than 7,000 cases in the United States over 30 years to evaluate the long-term impact of having non-standard work schedules (that is, anything other than work hours). traditional work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
The main conclusion is that those people who during their youth had jobs with “volatile” schedules (changing or night shifts) reached middle age with a worse quality of sleep and a higher incidence of physical fatigue and emotional exhaustion. They were also more likely to report depressive symptoms at age 50. Overall, they had less healthy lives compared to people who worked for most of their lives on a traditional daytime schedule.
The research focuses on the current challenges regarding work schedules, and points out some strategies to mitigate their negative impacts. The most striking data is observed among people who had stable schedules when they were in their twenties and began to have more volatile schedules in their 30s: the deterioration of their health after the age of 50 was comparatively much greater than that of the rest of the sample segments. Among this group, the medium-term health effect of unstable work schedules is similar to that of having less than a high school education. In other words, a very big effect.
“Work, which is supposed to provide the resources to sustain a decent life, has become an obstacle to having a healthy life. “This is due to the increasing precariousness of work arrangements in an increasingly unequal society,” Han explained. The data yield another unsurprising conclusion: people with more vulnerable social positions are the ones who disproportionately suffer these consequences for their lives. own health.
Other correlations identified in the study between race or gender and poor health in adulthood are also not surprising: African Americans, especially those with little education and volatile employment patterns for most of their working career, were most likely to report bad health. Likewise, women indicated having a lower quality of sleep than men, despite sleeping more hours than men.
Experts emphasize that, although the study establishes an association and not necessarily causality, its findings are consistent with what is known in the field of public health: the intersection between social position and employment patterns widens the disparities between those who enjoy good health and those who are not. People in vulnerable social positions often cannot choose about their work schedules, which poses a greater risk to their health.
For those who can’t avoid unstable work schedules, researchers suggest maintaining a healthy diet, exercising, seeking relaxation methods, and spending time with loved ones. Also optimize sleeping conditions and have regular health checkups. All these recommendations seem very logical, but also difficult to fit into the way of life of the most disadvantaged strata of the population, who suffer not only poverty of resources, but also poverty of time: they are people who cannot dedicate optimal time to These important activities, since they are precisely involved in working in precarious conditions to survive.
