Unstable hours, unequal health: Gendered occupational health costs of work-hour volatility in the U.S.
Volatile work hours linked to worse self-rated health in men
Unstable hours, unequal health: Gendered occupational health costs of work-hour volatility in the U.S.
Work-hour instability is a key feature of precarious employment, yet its population-level health implications remain insufficiently understood and may be obscured by employment-based selection.
Using the Current Population Survey linked across two four-month observation periods separated by an eight-month unobserved interval, we construct a work-hour volatility index from within-person changes in work hours and estimate gender-stratified multinomial logit models to assess whether volatility predicts subsequent transitions in self-rated health (self-rated health) and health-related work limitation (health-related work limitation) as an additional outcome.
risk of worsening health nearly 10 points higher with volatile hours
Results show gender-differentiated patterns.
Among men, work-hour volatility is associated with a higher likelihood of self-rated health deterioration while remaining employed.
Our findings suggest that work-hour volatility is a meaningful, gendered dimension of occupational health risk, with implications for both health inequality and labor-force attachment.
Policies promoting stable working hours should be considered because they may have public health benefits.