Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Latest NewsHealth and safetyMental healthWellbeing

Research links poor mental health to low-standard jobs

by Personnel Today 31 Mar 2011
by Personnel Today 31 Mar 2011

The impact of a bad job on a person’s mental health can be as harmful as having no job at all, latest research has suggested.

A study published online in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine has argued that poorly paid, short-term and poorly supported jobs can have a significant detrimental effect on a person’s mental health.

Yet, because being in work is generally associated with better mental health than unemployment, government policies have tended to focus on the risks posed by joblessness, without necessarily considering the effect that the quality of a job may have.

The study was led by academics at the Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University in Canberra.

The researchers based their findings on seven waves of data from more than 7,000 people of working age, drawn from a representative national household survey conducted every year in Australia.

Not unexpectedly, those who were unemployed had poorer mental health, overall, than those in work, the results showed.

But after taking into account a range of factors with the potential to influence the results, such as educational attainment and marital status, the mental health of those who were jobless was comparable with, or often better than, that of people in work, but in poor-quality jobs.

Those in the poorest-quality jobs experienced the sharpest decline in mental health over time.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

There was a direct linear association between the number of unfavourable working conditions experienced and mental health, with each additional adverse condition lowering the mental health score, said the authors.

XpertHR offers advice on how employers can ensure that they are better equipped to manage mental ill health.

Personnel Today

previous post
Acas welcomes Government’s early conciliation proposals
next post
Sickness absence review holds promise for occupational health

You may also like

Gregg Wallace sacked amid fresh misconduct allegations

9 Jul 2025

Doctors vote for return to strike action

8 Jul 2025

‘Frustrating’ that NHS Plan has overlooked OH, warns...

8 Jul 2025

Employment Rights Bill set to ban employer NDAs

8 Jul 2025

Young people unprepared for world of work, says...

8 Jul 2025

Empower and engage for the future: A revolution...

7 Jul 2025

Bereavement leave to extend to miscarriages before 24...

7 Jul 2025

One in seven ‘revenge quit’ in latest employee...

7 Jul 2025

Skills shortfall in construction threatens housing target

4 Jul 2025

Company director wins £15k after being told to...

4 Jul 2025

  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today