Workload, work stress, and sickness absence in Swedish male and female white-collar employees

Aims: This study aimed to analyse, in a homogeneous population of highly educated men and women, gender differences in self-reported sickness absence as related to paid and unpaid work and combinations of these (double exposure), as well as to perceived work stress and work-home conflict, i.e. conflict between demands from the home and work environment. Methods: A total of 743 women and 596 men, full-time working white-collar employees randomly selected from the general Swedish population aged 32-58, were assessed by a Swedish total workload instrument. The influence of conditions in paid and unpaid work and combinations of these on self-reported sickness absence was investigated by multivariate regression analyses. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess differences between men and women. Results: Overtime was associated with lower sickness absence, not only for men but also for women, and a double-exposure situation did not increase the risk of sick leave. Contrary to what is normally seen, conflict between demands did not emerge as a risk factor for sickness absence for women, but for men. Conclusions: Our assumption that sickness absence patterns would be mor similar for white-collar men and women than for the general population was not confirmed. However, the women working most hours were also the least sick-listed and assumed less responsibility for household chores. These women were mainly in top-level positions and therefore we conclude that men and women in these high-level positions seem to share household burdens more evenly, but they can also afford to employ someone to assist in the household.