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Part-time work 'makes men ill'

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Part-time work 'makes men ill'
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Part-time and temporary work are more likely to give male breadwinners psychological problems - whereas women are more likely to suffer in full-time employment, a new study shows.

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Unemployment and money worries affect male part-timers worse than their female counterparts, largely due to the pressure of traditional gender roles, wrote Der Tagesspiegel Berlin newspaper on Wednesday.

Last year part-time male workers missed an average of 1.9 days of work due to psychological illness, whereas male full-timers missed just 1.4 days, according to the study by health insurers Techniker-Krankenkasse (TK) presented on Tuesday.

Anti-depressives are also more frequently prescribed to men in part time work - 53 percent more often than male full-timers, the paper said.

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Women, who are much more likely to be in part-time work than men – 40 percent as opposed to 7.4 percent of men – were found to be more susceptible to psychological illness if they are in full-time jobs, said the study.

Jens Baas TK chairman said the study demonstrates that the type of employment contract is more likely to give male workers problems than stress in the workplace.

This is mainly due to traditional gender roles, according to TK psychologist Heiko Schulz, which still often assign men as the “main breadwinners of the family.”

In these situations, lack of long-term job security – often not by choice – and resulting money worries can be difficult, wrote the paper.

The report analysed recorded prescriptions and days off work for the company's 3.9 million members, for the first time linking this to their employment status.

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