Long Work Hours Tough on Health – How Does Colorado Measure Up?
Your job may have a greater impact on your health than you think.
Ever get to the end of a long work week and just feel completely run down? We know that our jobs have an immense effect on the way we feel. Heck, we probably feel run down after just a few hours at the office. If that's the case then you might want to consider a different job.
Because your job might be killing you.
According to the World Health Organization, working a long week can wreak havoc on your health. In the past 20 years, the number of people who have died from heart disease or stroke has increased almost 30 percent. The WHO believes this is due to putting in more hours at the office. They believe that if you are working more than 55 hours per week, then you are putting a serious damper on your health. I believe it's due to stress, sitting for long periods of time, and ultimately wearing yourself out.
So how do we measure up?
As a whole, the United States is the 10th overworked nation in the world. I honestly thought that number would be higher, but we were beat out by nations like Russia, South Korea, Costa Rica, and Mexico who landed at the top of the list. We work an average of 41.5 hours per week, compared to Mexico at 48.5 hours.
Honing in just on our states, Colorado is the 11th overworked state in the country, according to Business.org. Our average work week is 39.2 hours. This list was compiled from data that included average weekly hours, average commute time, the number of hours required to work to afford median housing, and even the percentage of workers over the age of 64. It seems like there's a direct correlations between the number of hours worked each week and the cost of living in that state.
Topping the list was New York, followed by New Jersey, Maryland, California and Hawaii rounding out the top five.