Women bear brunt of Covid-related work stress, UK study finds

Women are being disproportionately affected by a rise in mental health problems caused by increasing workloads as people do their jobs from home amid the pandemic.

The length of the working day has increased steadily, resulting in a 49% rise in mental distress reported by employees when compared with 2017-19. Women are bearing the brunt of problems as they juggle work and childcare, according to a report by the 4 Day Week campaign and thinktanks Compass and Autonomy.

The report, Burnout Britain, cshows that women are 43% more likely to have increased their hours beyond a standard working week than men, and for those with children, this was even more clearly associated with mental health problems: 86% of women who are carrying out a standard working week alongside childcare, which is more than or equivalent to the UK average, experienced problems in April this year.

The report warns that “as well as an impending recession and mass unemployment, we are heading into an unprecedented mental health crisis”.

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Source: The Guardian, 9 October 2020