Do people get used to working long hours?

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Overemployment affects nearly one-third of European workers.
• The long-term consequences of overemployment on wellbeing and health are understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between overemployment and declines in wellbeing and health.
• To determine if adverse impacts of overemployment persist or if individuals adapt.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP, 1984-2019).
• Employed individual fixed-effects models with leads and lags for analysis (N=43,570).

Main Results:

• Overemployment is linked to a significant decline in mental health, worsening over time.
• Mental health impacts intensify, with SF-12 scores declining substantially and persistently.
• Similar negative associations were found for work, leisure, health, and life satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Overemployment poses a risk for persistent poor mental health and low wellbeing.
• Findings suggest overemployment negatively impacts overall life satisfaction and health.
• Implications for working time regulations and workplace health policies are highlighted.