Researchers at the Australian National University wanted to know whether the benefits of having a job depended on its psychosocial quality (levels of control, demands and complexity, job insecurity, and unfair pay), and whether poor quality jobs were associated with better mental health than unemployment.
They found that poor-quality jobs — those with high demands, low control over decision making, high job insecurity and an effort-reward imbalance — had more adverse effects on mental health than joblessness (Butterworth, Leach, Strazdins, Olesen, Rodgers, & Broom, 2011).
Analyzing seven years’ worth of information from 7,155 people, the researchers concluded:
“We found that those respondents who were unemployed had significantly poorer mental health than those who were employed. However, the mental health of those who were unemployed was comparable or more often superior to those in jobs of the poorest psychosocial quality.”
- The mental health of people in the least-satisfying jobs declined the most over time — and the worse the job, the more it affected workers’ well-being.
- The impact on mental health of a badly paid, poorly supported, or short term job can be as harmful as no job at all.
- The quality of your job predicts the quality of your mental health.
BMJ-British Medical Journal (2011, March 14). Impact of a bad job on mental health as harmful as no job at all. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110314184714.htm
Butterworth, P., Leach, L.S., Strazdins, L., Olesen, S.C., Rodgers, B., & Broom, D.H. (2011). The psychosocial quality of work determines whether employment has benefits for mental health: results from a longitudinal national household panel survey. Occupational & Environmental Medicine. Advance online publication. doi:10.1136/oem.2010.059030
Time – Study: Having a Bad Job Is Worse than No Job For Mental Health. Retrieved from http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/15/study-having-a-bad-job-is-worse-than-no-job-for-mental-health/