Working Long Hours Linked to a Lower Life Expectancy

Do you feel like you are hideously overworked? Well, you aren’t alone! A survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting showed that more than a third of workers aren’t satisfied with their jobs. There are a number of reasons why the modern job market is ruthless, but a significant aspect of it is that it has become progressively more normal for many people to work longer hours than they once did.

Anyone who has had to work an excessive number of days without a proper break in between can attest as to how quickly this can impact your physical and emotional health. However, new research paints an even grimmer picture of the long-term effects of over-working, suggesting that excessive work hours are associated with a reduction in life expectancy of nearly a decade.

The Law

Under UK and EU law, UK workers, unless they work in an exempt role, such as an emergency services worker, the armed forces, or even those that work at sea, cannot be compelled to work more than 48 hours a week (when taken as an average over 17 weeks).

This 48-hour limit is now supported by scientific evidence. A new report from the World Health Organization, and independent “Lifestyle vs Lifespan” research from Antibodies.com, suggests that an average working week of more than 48 hours is associated with a corresponding nine-year drop in life expectancy. Clearly, a reduction of almost a decade is significant and worth investigating further.

In fact, the research from Antibodies.com was perhaps even more worrying as it pointed to a two-year reduction in lifespan for those working an average of 40 hours every week. This is more in line with the number of hours that workers work in the UK. According to the Office for National Statistics, the current average workweek in the UK is 37.3 hours, but many people are working more hours than this with some regularity.

Anyone considering a long-term career in a role exempt from the Working Time Directive, such as security and emergency services, armed forces, or operator of a business that requires 24-hour staffing, should bear this in mind. One area for future research to consider will be whether workers need to break these limits for a sustained period in order for their life expectancy to suffer, or whether intermittent breaches aren’t an issue.

Low Life Expectancies

The lowest life expectancy of all the countries considered in the study was recorded in the Kingdom of Lethoso, a small enclaved nation within the borders of South Africa. An interesting finding of the study was that while life expectancy in Lethoso differed from that of the Central African Republic by just 0.1 years, the working week in Lethoso is considerably shorter.

This difference points to a very important implication of the research, which is that while the average working-week correlates strongly with life expectancy, it is not a perfect correlation. Other factors come in to play - child vaccination rates, infant mortality, access to healthcare, and even political stability will all affect the average life expectancy.

However, the average working week is a good metric to use because it is so closely tied to many of these other significant factors. The connections between the lifestyles we lead and our life expectancy are obvious - the more unhealthy behaviours we engage in, the less likely we are to live a long life. Our lifestyles, in turn, are often connected to the jobs that we do and, by extension, the hours that we work.

13 countries in the study were deemed as having a particularly low life expectancy. Of these countries, five of them - 38% - had average working weeks that exceeded 45 hours. One interesting anomaly in the data was Switzerland, who not only work a long week, with an average working week of 50 hours but also have a very high life expectancy. In fact, Switzerland’s average lifespan is 83.3 years, second only to that of Japan.

The conclusions of both the WHO and Antibodies.com are backed up by data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The OECD found that, amongst its members, the average working week was 33 hours long and the average life expectancy was 80.6. Of the OECD members who recorded the lowest life expectancies, their average working week was nine hours longer than the average.

Other Anomalies

Stewart Newlove, the Managing Director of Antibodies, noted that one of the primary findings of their research was that there is a complex web of factors that affect the average lifespan. The average working week is not a perfect indicator, and we will look at some notable exceptions shortly. However, while the data shouldn’t be considered in isolation, governments should certainly consider the long-term impacts of longer working weeks on their citizens.

Where countries like Switzerland have bucked the trend, we can find explanations for the discrepancy. For example, in addition to Switzerland’s long working week, we also know that it’s rates of alcohol consumption are higher than average. However, they have some of the cleanest air in the world and pollution is another often overlooked contributor to early deaths.

Highest Life Expectancy

The highest life expectancy - 84.2 years - was recorded by Japan. According to the aforementioned research, a 40-hour work week, the average in Japan, is associated with a decrease in life expectancy of two years. However, the Japanese diet is a famously healthy one and while rates of cigarette smoking are relatively high in Japan, rates of alcohol consumption are relatively low.

Anyone who has had to work excessive hours knows what a drain they can be. However, this research starkly quantifies the health impacts of overworking. People considering their long-term career plans might want to factor in the expected impacts on health when making their decisions.

As this research highlights, the factors impacting life expectancy are many and varied. While the average working week is not a perfect predictor of life expectancy, it should definitely be a factor in deciding public policy regarding employment laws.