Involuntary Full- and Part-Time Work: Employees’ Mental Health and the Role of Family- and Work-Related Resources
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Research Foundation Flanders, Egmontstraat 5, 1000 Brussel, Belgium
2
Interface Demography, Departement of Sociology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Elsene, Belgium
3
Institute of Medical Sociology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, P.B.101007, 40001 Duesseldorf, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Societies 2020, 10(4), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10040081
Received: 12 August 2020
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Revised: 22 October 2020
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Accepted: 23 October 2020
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Published: 24 October 2020
Resources related to a good work-life balance may play an important role for the mental health of workers with involuntary working hours. This study investigates whether involuntary part-time (i.e., working part-time, but preferring full-time work) and involuntary full-time work (i.e., working full-time, but preferring part-time work) are associated with a deterioration of mental health and whether family- and work-related resources buffer this association. Data were obtained from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) with baseline information on involuntary working hours and resources. This information was linked to changes in mental health two years later. We found impaired mental health for involuntary full-time male workers and increased mental health for regular part-time female workers. The mental health of involuntary full-time male workers is more vulnerable, compared to regular full-time workers, when having high non-standard work hours and when being a partner (with or without children). Involuntary part-time work is detrimental to men’s mental health when doing a high amount of household work. This study is one of the first to emphasize the mental health consequences of involuntary full-time work. Avoiding role and time conflicts between family and work roles are important for the mental health of men too.
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Keywords:
work hour preferences; stress theory; family roles; household work; German socio-economic panel; conditional change models
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MDPI and ACS Style
Moortel, D.D.; Dragano, N.; Wahrendorf, M. Involuntary Full- and Part-Time Work: Employees’ Mental Health and the Role of Family- and Work-Related Resources. Societies 2020, 10, 81. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10040081
AMA Style
Moortel DD, Dragano N, Wahrendorf M. Involuntary Full- and Part-Time Work: Employees’ Mental Health and the Role of Family- and Work-Related Resources. Societies. 2020; 10(4):81. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10040081
Chicago/Turabian StyleMoortel, Deborah De, Nico Dragano, and Morten Wahrendorf. 2020. "Involuntary Full- and Part-Time Work: Employees’ Mental Health and the Role of Family- and Work-Related Resources" Societies 10, no. 4: 81. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10040081
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