"Invisible work" or "second shift" — unpaid household labor continues to be relevant, negatively affecting the health of those who engage in it. Research by scientists from Osaka Metropolitan University showed that total time spent on tasks is directly related to the deterioration of mental health and sleep quality, especially among women. This is reported by Social Science Medicine.
Household responsibilities — from cooking and cleaning to organizing children's schedules — are necessary for everyday life, yet they are often not perceived as full-fledged work. When a 'second shift' is added to the main workday, a time deficit arises: a person becomes overloaded and does not have enough time to recover.
A group of researchers led by Professors Akiko Morimoto and Naho Sugita noted the lack of study on domestic burdens in science. Previously, only paid hours were primarily analyzed.
The study examined data from four thousand working Japanese individuals aged 40 to 64. It was found that about 90 percent of women and only 40 percent of men regularly engage in household chores. Considering this burden, women, on average, work longer than men, and increased overall employment raises the risk of sleep problems for everyone, with a stronger impact on women's psychological well-being.
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