People Of Color Pressured To Work Longer Hours Risk Poor Health At Age 50

People of color are more likely to work irregular and prolonged hours, contributing to long-term health issues, according to a new study by Wen-Jui Han, a professor at NYU Silver School of Social Work.

Even among Black professionals and other minorities in office jobs, Han tells Fortune, there’s a pressure to work longer hours to succeed.

Long, irregular work hours

Han’s study utilized data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which tracked over 7,000 U.S. workers from age 22 to 50.

She found that employees, especially people of color, who forgo regular nighttime sleep to accommodate work demands are significantly more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and a range of chronic conditions including heart disease at age 50.

This issue is significant in communities of color where individuals often occupy jobs requiring irregular hours across various shifts or multiple job holdings to meet economic needs.

Sleep deprivation and health

This additional stress not only heightens the risk of health problems but also encourages unhealthy coping mechanisms such as poor diet, smoking, and alcohol use.

Particularly alarming is Han’s finding that Black Americans, who are disproportionately more likely to work non-standard hours and night shifts, report less sleep overall. 

This sleep deprivation is strongly linked to severe health issues like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases—a leading cause of death among Black Americans.

Han said there still needs to be a more significant conversation about how work affects people of color, particularly Black people and minority workers who disproportionately hold shift jobs.

“The big picture is that when we’re under pressure to serve the 24/7 economy, this is the long-term health consequence we suffer,” she said, according to Fortune.

“Companies have a large role to play in changing the kind of culture we have around work. We need to help take care of people because workers are the ones who make up the economy.”