Table 1 Summary of the literature on the worktime–satisfaction nexus (in chronological order)
From: Does less working time improve life satisfaction? Evidence from European Social Survey
Author(s) | Outcome variable(s) | Methods | Data structure | Main results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Weston et al. (2004) [16] | Life satisfaction; job satisfaction | Statistical correlation analysis | 2001; Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey | Fathers working 35–40 h per week have the highest proportion of satisfaction, and the number of fathers who prefer to work fewer hours increases along with an increase in working hours. Fathers working more than 60 h who report high satisfaction have higher levels of well-being compared to those who are satisfied with a 35–40-h work week |
Golden and Wiens-tuers (2006) [17] | Happy; satisfaction | Ordered logistic model | 2002; General Social Survey (GSS) Quality of Working Life (QWL) module in the US | Monetary rewards for overtime work bring better mental health but no apparent increase in happiness. Work–family imbalances occur due to interference in workers' personal lives, but it is unclear whether happiness rises or declines when overtime work is mandatory |
Clark and Senik (2006) [18] | Job satisfaction | Multivariate analysis; Ordered probit model | 1991–2001; British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) 1994–2001; French component of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) | Working hours and job satisfaction show opposite relations in the UK and France: a negative correlation (at 5% significance) occurs in the former, while a positive correlation (at 10% significance) is observed in the latter. This suggests that British people prefer a shorter working week, whereas long working time gives French people a sense of accomplishment |
Pouwels et al. (2008) [19] | Happiness | Ordered probit model | 1999; German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) | The effect of income on happiness tends to be underestimated by 12% for women and 25% for men. Controlling for working hours would substantially increase the impact of income on subjective well-being |
Booth and Ours (2008) [20] | Working hours satisfaction, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction | Fixed effect ordered logit model | 1996–2003; BHPS | A standard full-time job (without overtime) can increase British men’s work satisfaction, but has no impact on their job satisfaction or life satisfaction. British women prefer part-time jobs, but their life satisfaction is unaffected by working hours |
Booth and Ours (2009) [21] | Working hours satisfaction, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction | Fixed-effects ordered logit model | 2001–2004; HILDA Survey | Women are happier with part-time jobs, and their partners working full-time can enhance their satisfaction. By comparison, the working hours of their partners show no significant impacts on men’s satisfaction, but working full-time themselves increases their life satisfaction by raising their prospects of success |
Knabe and Rätzel (2010) [3] | Life satisfaction | Pooled ordered probit model; probit-adjusted OLS | 1999–2006; GSOEP | For both men and women, the relationship between income and happiness is unaffected by including the working time variable because the impact of working hours on happiness is small. This finding differs from that of Pouwels et al. (2008) |
Okulicz-Kozaryn (2011) [22] | Happiness | Pooled data ordered logistic model | 1996, 2001; Eurobarometer survey series in Europe 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002; GSS | Compared to Americans, Europeans are happier with less work. Both populations rationally seek to maximize their utility: Americans care more about work outcomes, while Europeans care more about work processes |
Holly and Mohnen (2012) [23] | Life satisfaction, job satisfaction | Fixed effect regression; OLS | 1999–2009; GSOEP | They find a positive relationship between life satisfaction and long working hours, while the desire to reduce working hours has a negative impact on satisfaction |
Rudolf (2014) [1] | Subjective well-being | Fixed-effects ordered logit model | 1998–2008; Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) | The evidence suggests that the Korean Five-Day Working Reform (i.e., reducing working hours) does not fulfil the expected aim of enhancing workers’ well-being. So a shorter working week does not necessarily make Koreans happier. Furthermore, rising work intensity may cancel out the increase in well-being |
Collewet and Loog (2015) [24] | Life satisfaction | OLS and 2SLS with fixed effects | 1985–2009; GSOEP | An inverted U-shaped effect of working hours on life satisfaction is found. However, the effect of full-time work on actual working hours for part-timers is too weak to consolidate. For full-time workers, increasing working hours may reduce life satisfaction in men but has no such impact in women |
Valente and Berry (2016) [25] | Life satisfaction | Ordered logistic model | 2008; Americas Barometer for Latin America; 2006, 2008, and 2010; GSS | Among overtime workers, married Latin American males are less happy than married US American males. This is explained based on social development theory: more work means improved welfare and higher status for US American men, whereas Latin American men are happier to enjoy family relationships |
Wu (2016) [26] | Job satisfaction | Hierarchical regression analysis | 2014–2015; questionnaire survey in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Jiangsu provinces, comprising 1,369 effective questionnaires | A U-shaped relation between working time and job satisfaction is found for three occupations in China: farmers, industrial workers, and public servants. On the one hand, workers’ health processes differ for equivalent hours of working. On the other hand, despite highly similar efforts, they acquire different incomes, which create an effort-income imbalance |
Okulicz-Kozaryn and Golden (2017) [27] | Happiness | OLS | 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014; GSS pooled datasets | A flexible working schedule can substantially increase happiness; its effect can be compared to those of health and income, which are widely recognized as important drivers of happiness |
Okulicz-Kozaryn and Golden (2018) [2] | Self-reported well-being | OLS | 2016; GSS | For US citizens, the greater the instability and unpredictability of work schedules, the lower the workers’ subjective well-being is |
Alameddine et al. (2018) [28] | Job satisfaction | Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition | 1990–1995 and 1997–2015; The German Socio-Economic Panel | The mismatch between desired and actual working time negatively affects German nurses’ job satisfaction, and thus the authors propose bridging the gap between actual and desired work hours |
Noda (2020) [29] | Life satisfaction | OLS | 2014; the OECD Better Life Index | Leisure hours could improve Europeans’ life satisfaction, and this relationship is especially significant for men. The positive effect of health on life satisfaction is confirmed |
Henriques et al. (2020) [30] | Life satisfaction | OLS | 2011, 2012; the 3rd European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) | Fewer working hours contribute to a higher level of life satisfaction in Europe, even to the point of sacrificing earnings, especially for workers with children |
Tan et al. (2022) [31] | Work time satisfaction | Structural equation models | 2012, ESS | Young children disrupt full-time working mothers’ but not full-time working fathers’ sleep. Compared to men, women report a significantly larger association between work hour dissatisfaction and restless sleep |