Science has just declared it official - working long hours are extremely bad for your health, and even more so for women.
Published this month in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, a new study has cast light on the bevy of health problems that could be awaiting all those who regularly work long beyond the 9 to 5.
Guilty? Strap in.
“People who habitually put in a lot of long hours for many years, even decades, are really running an increased risk of potentially seeing chronic disease later in life," says Allard Dembe, professor at Ohio State University’s College of Public Health, and lead author of the study.
After examining the work schedules and medical histories of nearly 7,500 people in the US, the researchers found that women who work over 60 hours are at three times the risk of diabetes, cancers and heart disease.
The group who worked long hours were also found to be four times as likely to suffer from arthritis, compared with women who worked 40 hours a week or less.
But here’s the suckerpunch; while men who worked excessive hours were also found to be at higher risk of illness and disease, they were far less so than women.
The study found that men who worked 60 hours a week or more were just twice as likely to suffer from osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis - half the risk of women working equivalent hours.
So why the gender difference?
Though the researchers don’t have conclusive proof (yet), they suspect that it’s largely down the fact that women are more likely to be juggling multiple roles.
“My speculation is, [women] have to balance all these other roles - parenting, child care, domestic responsibilities, worrying about everyone's health care,” says Dembe.
A lack of sleep was also thought to be a root cause, keeping the body in a continual state of stress.