Only 25% say job has positive impact on health
Around 4 in 10 working adults (44%) admit that their current job has an impact on their overall health and 1 in 4 (28 %) say that the impact is positive, according to a new NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll.
In the survey that included more than 1,600 workers in the U.S., 1 in 6 workers (16%) report that their current job has a negative impact on their health.
Workers most likely to say their job has a negative impact on their overall health include those with disabilities (35%), those in dangerous jobs (27%), those in low-paying jobs (26%), those working 50+ hours per week (25%), and those working in the retail sector (26%).
Working adults have also reported that their job has a negative impact on their levels of stress (43%), eating habits (28%), sleeping habits (27%), and weight (22%).
‘The takeaway here is that job number one for U.S. employers is to reduce stress in the workplace,’ said Robert J. Blendon, Richard L. Menschel Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who directed the survey.
Do you think your current job is good or bad for your or does it not have an impact one way or another?
Responses:
Stress Level: bad impact, 43%, no impact, 39%, good impact, 16%;
Eating Habits: bad impact, 28%, no impact, 56%, good impact, 15%;
Sleeping Habits: bad impact, 27%, no impact, 55%, good impact, 17%;
Weight: bad impact, 22%, no impact, 57%, good impact, 19%
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% because Don’t Know/Refused responses are not shown.
Chemicals and contaminants are the top health concerns in the workplace.
About 1 in 5 working adults (22%) say that something at their job may be harmful to their health, including 43% of construction or outdoor workers and 34% of workers in medical jobs.
The health concerns mentioned by workers about their workplace include chemicals and other contaminants (30%), unhealthy air (13%), accidents or injuries (12%), and stress (11%).
Around 1 in 4 workers (24%) rate their workplace as only fair or poor in providing a healthy work environment; however, 34% give their workplace a rating of excellent. About half (51%) say their workplace offers any formal wellness or health improvement programs to help keep themselves healthy.
‘Every year, U.S. businesses lose more than $225 billion because of sick and absent workers,’ said Robert Wood Johnson President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey. ‘But I believe that business drives culture change and with them on board we can succeed in building a Culture of Health in America. It’s not a hard connection to make. In many companies as much as 50 percent of profits are eaten up by health care costs.’
Nearly half of all workers (45%) rate their workplace as only fair or poor in providing healthy food options. Over half of workers in factory or manufacturing jobs (55%), medical jobs (52%), retail outlets (52%), and construction or outdoor jobs (51%) give their workplace a fair or poor rating at providing healthy food options.
A majority of ‘workaholics’ say they work longer hours because it is important to their career; half say they enjoy working longer hours.
About 1 in 5 working adults (19%) say they work 50 or more hours per week in their main job; these workers are called ‘workaholics’ in this study.
When given a list of possible reasons why they work 50+ hours per week, a majority of these workers (56%) say they do so because it’s important for their career to work longer hours, 50% say they enjoy doing so, and just 37% say they do it because they need the money.
A majority (55%) of working adults say they still go to work always or most of the time when they have a cold or the flu, including more than half (60%) of those who work in medical jobs and half (50%) of restaurant workers.
Types of workers who are most likely to still go to work always or most of the time when they are sick include those working 50+ hours per week in their main job (70%), those working two or more jobs (68%), workers in low-paying jobs (65%), and younger workers ages 18-29 (60%).
Low-wage workers often face worse conditions than high-wage workers, example – more than 4 in 10 workers in low-paying jobs report facing potentially dangerous situations at work (45% vs. 33% in high-paying jobs), and almost two-thirds (65% vs. 48% in high-paying jobs) say they still go to work always or most of the time when they are sick.
One in four workers in low-paying jobs (26%) say their job has a negative impact on their overall health, compared to just 14% of those in high-paying jobs.
‘In an era of concern about low-wage workers, it’s clear they face more negative health impacts from their jobs compared to those who are paid substantially more,’ said Blendon.
