In the midst of the epidemic, an increase in mental health issues brought on by rising burdens as more people work from home is systematically oppressing women.
Employee reports of mental anguish have grown by 49% from 2017–19 to 2018–19 as a result of the lengthening of the workday. According to a survey by the 4 Day Week movement and the think tanks Compass and Autonomy, women are the ones who suffer the most from problems pertaining to balancing work and homemaking.
One day before World Mental Health Day, a survey called Burnout Britain reveals that women are 43% more likely than males to have worked longer hours than the typical 40-hour workweek, and that this is even more strongly linked to mental health issues for those who have children: In April of this year, 86% of women who work a typical work week and take care of children reported challenges, which is more or equal to the UK average.
According to Emma Mamo, director of occupational sustainability at the psychological health organization Mind, employers are encouraged to support employee wellbeing by providing flexible work arrangements, which may entail beginning later or task splitting some duties.
Employers may implement additional measures, such as working from home or offering varied hours to accommodate people's schedules, as we attempt to arrange our lives around COVID-19, according to Mamo.
According to the research, "in addition to an approaching downturn and joblessness, we are entering a historic mental health crisis."
The UK government is urged to establish a working time commission to investigate the greatest options for adopting reduced working hours to distribute work more evenly across the economy. It also calls for a four-day work week for the government sector.
"It's quite troubling that generally the change to working remotely has resulted in employees doing more hours and not less," said Joe Ryle, a campaigner with the 4 Day Week campaign. A four-day work week is badly needed in this nation to realign the economy, improve mental health, and offer people more time to pursue their passions.
"This research reminds us that it's really vital as a society to strive for a full resolution that is cost-effective for both employers and employees too," said Lisa Cameron MP, the SNP's mental health spokesman.
The Scottish government has established a committee to further investigate the four-day work week in Scotland as it has become more apparent in recent months as a viable pathway for adaptable working across the economy.
.png)
.png)
