Low-level jobs lead to increased lifelong stress
We’ve all worked some less-than-desirable jobs some time in our life. It could have been the poorly managed fast food joint in the neighborhood or the grueling paper mill your dad made you work at in the summers (both, yours truly). It’s good for us to work our way out of those low-level jobs, because as a new study suggests, that kind of work can affect you for the rest of your life.
Research led by medical sociologist Tarani Chandola of the University of Manchester found that low-level employees of the British civil service have higher stress levels after retirement than their higher-ranking constituents. Chandola measured the cortisol levels of differently ranking members of the British civil service in London over the course of about 30 years via saliva samples. The results were a bit surprising.
You might expect that the higher-ranking employees have higher stress levels because of the weight of the tasks that they deal with compared to lower-ranking employees, but Chandola’s research found just the opposite. The expectation of higher stress levels being associated with higher-ranking positions likely stems from the fact that many of the studies on this topic have participants self-report stress levels. This study differs by measuring cortisol, the “stress hormone,” in participants’ saliva to find a physiological measurement of stress. Cortisol works similar to adrenaline helping in the process of dealing with stress, but it does have some negative side effects.
“These physiological stress measures are typically sub-clinical – respondents and their doctors are not aware of how their stress systems are performing, but these stress systems are themselves good predictors of future cardiovascular health and death,” Chandola says. “So someone with higher levels of cortisol is probably unaware of that and probably does no report their physical or mental health as poor.”
Low-level employees of the civil service were found to have higher resting cortisol levels, which means that their body is being affected by the physiological damage that cortisol inflicts. Cortisol levels are supposed to be high in the morning to get you up and moving, and low at night so you can relax for sleep. The low-level participants in this study were found to have higher levels during the day and night, producing an above-average heightened state of constant cortisol exposure. This can lead to an increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and a constant state of alertness.
Chandola’s research shows that retirement offers no relief for low-level employees, either. The study found that low-level employees have no significant decrease in cortisol levels after retirement. Some of these workers were found to have significantly lowered cortisol levels a year or so after the retiring, but most soon returned to their heightened states. This is likely due to the immediate decrease in work-related stressors. It appears that working a low-level job has effects that truly last.
Chandola plans to expand on this research in the future.
“For me, there are two keys areas of research. The first looks back at a person’s history. This study suggests making structural changes, such as changes in job conditions. Salaries and pay are important for a person’s stress levels in retirement. The second looks at what can be done in retirement to reduce stress levels. Here I would like to explore what can be done at older ages to reduce stress, such as individual behavioral changes such as exercise and meditation, which are important, and also looking at structural factors such as changes in pension incomes.”
