Mismatches between actual and preferred work time: empirical evidence of hours constraints in 21 countries

This paper analyzes the discrepancy between actual and desired working hours in a multinational setting. Using the latest data of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) with a focus on work orientations hours constraints in 21 heterogeneous countries are analyzed. One major finding is that hours constraints are interrelated with macroeconomic variables such as (i) unemployment rates, (ii) GDP per capita as a measure of welfare, (iii) average weekly work hours, and (iv) income inequality. A subsequent multivariate analysis reveals that, on both macro- and microlevels, sociodemographic variables like prosperity and income, high risk of unemployment, and working conditions play an important role in determining working hours constraints. The results further suggest that, with respect to working conditions, such constraints are also affected by gender issues. --Hours constraints,preferred working hours,work time

Mismatches between actual and preferred work time : empirical evidence of hours constraints in 21 countries

This paper analyzes the discrepancy between actual and desired working hours in a multinational setting. Using the latest data of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) with a focus on work orientations hours constraints in 21 heterogeneous countries are analyzed. One major finding is that hours constraints are interrelated with macroeconomic variables such as (i) unemployment rates, (ii) GDP per capita as a measure of welfare, (iii) average weekly work hours, and (iv) income inequality. A subsequent multivariate analysis reveals that, on both macro- and microlevels, sociodemographic variables like prosperity and income, high risk of unemployment, and working conditions play an important role in determining working hours constraints. The results further suggest that, with respect to working conditions, such constraints are also affected by gender issues

Work time and hours constraints

This thesis aims to draw a comprehensive picture of labor supply hours and the extent and determinants of work hours constraints while pinpointing possible consequences and policy implications of such constraints and highlighting the relevance of individual work time preferences with respect to a meaningful debate on work time issues. Most particularly, it offers a comprehensive analysis of how the consideration of individually preferred work hours and the discrepancy between these and actual work hours can foster an understanding of individual labor market participation decisions. What insights, for example, do individual preferences for work hours provide for successful policy implementation if policy makers address topics such as the length of the work week, balance between work and family life or the need for more substantive part-time jobs? Likewise, what incentives might lead employers to reduce work hour mismatches? Despite their importance, these issues of work hour preferences and constraints have not yet been adequately considered in the overall debate on work time and labor market policy. Nor has attention been paid to a further pivotal question: how these restrictions affect workers´ health and well-being. To date, there are only a few studies that investigate the meaning of work hours constraints in the context of happiness and well-being in the work place. This thesis, therefore, constitutes the first study for Germany and the United Kingdom on the potential adverse health consequences of being constrained in the choice of number of work hours.Das Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation ist es, ein umfassendes Bild der am Arbeitsmarkt angebotenen Arbeitsstunden zu zeichnen sowie das Ausmaß und die Determinanten von Arbeitsstundenrestriktionen zu untersuchen. Darüber hinaus zeigt die Arbeit mögliche Konsequenzen und politische Implikationen dieser Diskrepanz zwischen tatsächlicher und gewünschter Arbeitszeit auf und beleuchtet die Relevanz von Arbeitsstundenrestriktionen in Bezug auf eine sinnvolle und fundierte Arbeitszeitdebatte. Insbesondere wird die Frage analysiert, inwiefern individuelle Arbeitszeitpräferenzen und die Diskrepanz zwischen diesen und der tatsächlichen Arbeitszeit das Arbeitsangebotsverhalten und die Arbeitsmarktpartizipation beeinflussen. Welche Erkenntnisse können durch die Berücksichtigung individueller Arbeitszeitpräferenzen bezüglich der erfolgreichen Umsetzung einer Arbeitszeitpolitik gewonnen werden, wenn diese Politik eine bessere Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie, einen erleichterten Berufseinstieg nach Elternzeit oder die Schaffung von (substantiellen) Teilzeitstellen zum Ziel hat? Welche Anreize könnten Unternehmen haben, Arbeitsstundenrestriktionen abzubauen? Eine weitere entscheidende Frage ist, ob und inwiefern sich Arbeitsstundenrestriktionen auf die Gesundheit und das Wohlbefinden der Arbeitnehmer auswirken. Bisher existieren nur wenige Studien, die die Bedeutung von Stundenrestriktionen im Zusammenhang mit der Lebenszufriedenheit und dem Wohlbefinden am Arbeitsplatz untersuchen. Die vorliegende Dissertation beinhaltet die erste Studie für Deutschland und das Vereinigte Königreich, die die potentiell negativen Auswirkungen von Arbeitsstundenrestriktionen auf die Gesundheit anhand repräsentativer Längsschnittdaten analysiert

Work Hours Constraints: Impacts and Policy Implications

If individuals reveal their preference as consumers, then they are taken seriously. What happens if individuals, as employees, reveal their preferences in working hours? And what happens if there is a misalignment between actual hours worked and preferred hours, the so-called work hours constraints? How does this affect the productivity of workers, their health, and overall life satisfaction? Labor supply and corresponding demand are fundamental to production. Labor economists know for long that the fit of a worker in a job and the matching of skills to the assigned employment are of paramount importance; they guarantee high productivity, quality output, and individual happiness. Employees demand higher social awareness and a working environment where they feel useful and happy. The evidence shows that discrepancies between preferred hours of work and actual hours of work can have serious detrimental effects on workers, perverse effects on labor supply with unintended direct ramifications on the labor market and indirect implications on the goods and services markets. The sooner employers acknowledge and address working hours constraints the faster we can build work lives that make us better off.labor market, work time, work hours constraints, health, happiness, satisfaction

Work hours constraints and health

The issue of whether employees who work more hours than they want to suffer adverse health consequences is important not only at the individual level but also for governmental formation of work time policy. Our study investigates this question by analyzing the impact of the discrepancy between actual and desired work hours on self-perceived health outcomes in Germany and the United Kingdom. Based on nationally representative longitudinal data, our results show that work-hour mismatches (i.e., differences between actual and desired hours) have negative effects on workers' health. In particular, we show that overemployment - working more hours than desired - has negative effects on different measures of self-perceived health. --work time,hours constraints,health, Germany,United Kingdom

Work Hours Constraints and Health

The issue of whether employees who work more hours than they want to suffer adverse health consequences is important not only at the individual level but also for governmental formation of work time policy. Our study investigates this question by analyzing the impact of the discrepancy between actual and desired work hours on self-perceived health outcomes in Germany and the United Kingdom. Based on nationally representative longitudinal data, our results show that work-hour mismatches (i.e., differences between actual and desired hours) have negative effects on workers´ health. In particular, we show that "overemployment" - working more hours than desired - has negative effects on different measures of self-perceived health.Work time, hours constraints, health, Germany, United Kingdom

Job insecurity, employability, and health : an analysis for germany across generations

In this paper, we use 12 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel to examine the relationship between job insecurity, employability and health-related well-being. Our results indicate that being unemployed has a strong negative effect on life satisfaction and health. They also, however, highlight the fact that this effect is most prominent among individuals over the age of 40. A second observation is that job insecurity is also associated with lower levels of life satisfaction and health, and this association is quite strong. This negative effect of job insecurity is, in many cases, exacerbated by poor employability

Work Hours Constraints and Health

The issue of whether employees who work more hours than they want to suffer adverse health consequences is important not only at the individual level but also for governmental formation of work time policy. Our study investigates this question by analyzing the impact of the discrepancy between actual and desired work hours on self-perceived health outcomes in Germany and the United Kingdom. Based on nationally representative longitudinal data, our results show that work-hour mismatches (i.e., differences between actual and desired hours) have negative effects on workers’ health. In particular, we show that “overemployment” – working more hours than desired – has negative effects on different measures of self-perceived health.work time, hours constraints, health, Germany, United Kingdom

Work hours constraints and health

The issue of whether employees who work more hours than they want to suffer adverse health consequences is important not only at the individual level but also for governmental formation of work time policy. Our study investigates this question by analyzing the impact of the discrepancy between actual and desired work hours on self-perceived health outcomes in Germany and the United Kingdom. Based on nationally representative longitudinal data, our results show that work-hour mismatches (i.e., differences between actual and desired hours) have negative effects on workers´ health. In particular, we show that ?overemployment? ? working more hours than desired - has negative effects on different measures of self-perceived health

ISER Working Paper, no. 2018/1

In this paper, we analyse how different domains of subjective wellbeing evolve within seven years in three different cohorts born 10 years apart. On average, general life satisfaction – as well as satisfaction with leisure time, social contacts and friends, and family – declines substantially between the ages of 15 and 44, with the most significant decrease taking place at a young age (early 20s). Nevertheless, trajectories among the three cohorts differ markedly, indicating that, ceteris paribus, responses on subjective wellbeing differ greatly between cohorts born just a decade apart. The results further indicate that the two older cohorts assess family life and social contacts more favourably than the youngest cohort