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What matters more for employees’ mental health: job quality or job quantity?

Author

Listed:
  • Senhu Wang
  • Daiga Kamerāde
  • Brendan Burchell
  • Adam Coutts
  • Sarah Ursula Balderson

Abstract

Recent debates about whether the standard full-time working week (35–40 h) can be replaced by a shorter working week have received extensive attention. Using 2015 European Working Conditions Survey data, this study contributes to these debates by exploring the relationships between job quantity, job quality and employees’ mental health. Overall, we find that a job’s quality matters more than its quantity as measured in hours per week. The results show that actual working hours are hardly related to employees’ mental health but job quality, especially intrinsically meaningful work, less intensified work and having a favourable social environment, has positive effects on employee mental health, even in jobs with short working hours. Moreover, although working less than one prefers (under-employment) has negative effects, these negative effects become much smaller in size and non-significant in good quality jobs, especially in jobs with skill discretion and good job prospects. These findings develop the debates about a shorter standard working week by emphasising the continued and crucial importance of job quality in debates on the future of work. These results also suggest that policymakers should pay particular attention to job quality when addressing the dramatic reduction in total hours of employment in Europe following the COVID-19 crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Senhu Wang & Daiga Kamerāde & Brendan Burchell & Adam Coutts & Sarah Ursula Balderson, 2022. "What matters more for employees’ mental health: job quality or job quantity?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 46(2), pages 251-274.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:46:y:2022:i:2:p:251-274.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cje/beab054
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Johan Surkyn & Ron Lesthaeghe, 2004. "Value Orientations and the Second Demographic Transition (SDT) in Northern, Western and Southern Europe: An Update," Demographic Research Special Collections, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 3(3), pages 45-86.
    2. Brendan Burchell & Kirsten Sehnbruch & Agnieszka Piasna & Nurjk Agloni, 2014. "The quality of employment and decent work: definitions, methodologies, and ongoing debates," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 38(2), pages 459-477.
    3. Juliet B. Schor, 2005. "Sustainable Consumption and Worktime Reduction," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 9(1‐2), pages 37-50, January.
    4. Juliet Schor, 2004. "Sustainable Consumption and Worktime Reduction," Economics working papers 2004-06, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
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    Cited by:

    1. José-Ignacio Antón & Rafael Grande & Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo & Fernando Pinto, 2023. "Gender Gaps in Working Conditions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 53-83, February.
    2. Zhuofei Lu & Senhu Wang & Yaojun Li & Xiyuan Liu & Wendy Olsen, 2023. "Who Gains Mental Health Benefits from Work Autonomy? The Roles of Gender and Occupational Class," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1761-1783, August.
    3. Senhu Wang & Zhuofei Lu, 2023. "Is Paid Inflexible Work Better than Unpaid Housework for Women’s Mental Health? The Moderating Role of Parenthood," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 393-409, February.

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