Half of All Employees Bring Their Work Home

In a new study, researchers at the University of Toronto, in Canada, have uncovered the fact that about 50 percent of all employees tend to bring their work home with them. The research group says that this is one of the main causes of stress in today's society, given the fact that people no longer rest and relax when reaching the comfort of their own homes, but continue to focus on their work-related tasks. The job-life balance is therefore altered, a fact that has been proven to have significant repercussions on an individual's well-being and health.

The investigation was conducted on about 1,800 American respondents, whose data had been collected from a national survey. Among the questions that the researchers asked, the most important were, “How often does your job interfere with your home or family life?,” “How often does your job interfere with your social or leisure activities?,” and “How often do you think about things going on at work when you are not working?” The work was led by UT Sociology Professor Scott Schieman, together with University of Maryland expert Melissa Milkie and UT PhD student Paul Galvin, who were both study coauthors.

“Nearly half of the population reports that these situations occur 'sometimes' or 'frequently,' which is particularly concerning given that the negative health impacts of an imbalance between work life and private life are well-documented. We found several surprising patterns. People who are well-educated, professionals and those with job-related resources report that their work interferes with their personal lives more frequently, reflecting what we refer to as 'the stress of higher status,'” Schieman says. “While many benefits undoubtedly accrue to those in higher status positions and conditions, a downside is the greater likelihood of work interfering with personal life,” the team leader adds.

The full details of the investigation appear in the December 2009 issue of the respected scientific journal American Sociological Review. College or postgraduate degree holders were also found to have their work interfere with their private lives more than those who only had a high school degree. The team also identified a number of factors that predicted the amount of work people took at home, including personal conflicts at the workplace, working under pressure and deadlines, job insecurity, and an unsuitable environment.