Bad job worse for your health than no job

By Kate Southam
Australian research that reveals being miserable in a job is worse for your mental health than being unemployed is making headlines around the world.
A team from the Centre for Mental Health Research at The Australian National University in Canberra analysed data from more than 7,000 people to find that jobs offering little control, poor recognition and low pay were at greater risk to mental health than no job at all.
The ANU findings have hit the headlines in more than 100 media outlets around the world including Forbes, Bloomberg, CNN, Time, the UK Express, Toronto Sun, Los Angeles Times and Irish Times.
The research team claim the findings have huge implications for prevailing government social policies that promote “the notion that any job is better than none as work promotes economic as well as personal wellbeing.”
Using data collected in surveys since 2001, the ANU team looked at two key areas –the quality of the jobs held by participants and the state of their mental health in the preceding month leading up to their taking part in a survey.
Head of the research, ANU associate professor Dr Peter Butterworth, reported the team’s findings and methodology in the journal, Occupational Environmental Medicine.
“We looked at four different aspects of work in our study: whether people were working in highly complex and demanding jobs, whether they had a say in how they did their work, whether they considered they received fair pay for their efforts, and whether they felt secure in their job,” he said.
The mental health score was based on asking participants to describe their levels of anxiety, depression, happiness and feelings of calm in the month preceding the survey.
Employed people had an average score of 75.1. Those who moved from unemployment to a good job increased their score by 3.3 points above average and those taking a bad job saw their score drop 5.6 points below average. Remaining unemployed led to a drop of one point.
The ANU researchers say the findings have significant implications for prevailing government social policy that promotes “the notion that any job is better than none as work promotes economic as well as personal wellbeing.”
The study concludes that “psychosocial job quality is a pivotal factor that needs to be considered in the design and delivery of employment and welfare policy.”
The research follows the release of other studies showing job satisfaction levels in Australia are at a critical low right now.
CareerOne.com.au’s Hidden Hunters report was released last week to show job satisfaction levels are at their lowest since the research began four years ago.
Carried out by The Acid Test, the research looks at the triggers that “push” people out of one job and “pull” them into another.
Long hours, getting more work done with fewer resources and the reluctance of organisations to increase salaries were key “push” factors.
The 2011 survey of more than 1,000 people found that 37 per cent were actively looking for a new job and 82 per cent were open to offers.
A separate global study conducted by Gallup Consulting including 2,000 Australian has found most employees are “just going through the motions” at work right now.
The study found 61 per cent of workers were emotionally detached from work. A third of those not engaged had taken at least three sick days in the past month compared to only 11 per cent of engaged workers.
Article from CareerOne.com.au
