Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Julija SimpsonORCiD, Professor John WildmanORCiD, Professor Clare BambraORCiD, Dr Heather Brown
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Over the past decade, single mothers have experienced increasing work requirements both in the UK and in other developed countries. Our aim was to examine if increasing job hours are associated with mental health of single mothers compared to partnered mothers. Using 13 waves of the Understanding Society Survey (2009–2023), we estimated the relationship between changing job hours and mental health using difference-in-difference event study design, accounting for differential treatment effects across time and individuals. We also investigated the role of potential mechanisms, including role strain and additional income. Our findings suggest that increasing job hours from part-time to full-time is associated with an instantaneous decrease in mental health of 0.19 standard deviations for single mothers [95% CI: −0.37;−0.01], with no effect for partnered mothers. Further analyses suggest increased role strain for single mothers as a mechanism helping explain these differences. The negative effects of increasing job hours and increased role strain should be considered when developing future welfare policies for single mothers, to ensure that greater work requirements do not undermine the mental health of the already vulnerable population group.
Author(s): Simpson J, Wildman J, Bambra C, Brown H
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Health Economics
Year: 2024
Volume: 33
Issue: 12
Pages: 2742-2756
Print publication date: 01/12/2024
Online publication date: 05/09/2024
Acceptance date: 20/09/2024
Date deposited: 23/09/2024
ISSN (print): 1057-9230
ISSN (electronic): 1099-1050
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4895
DOI: 10.1002/hec.4895
Data Access Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from UK Data Service. Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for this study. Data are available from https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/ datacatalogue/studies/study?id=6614 with the permission of UK Data Service.
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
