The JobSync Blog
Women and Men in the Workplace: Who's Happier?
October 10, 2011
Recently, a survey by the Captivate Office Pulse Survey on Work-Life Balance examined the issue of men and women dealing with work-life balance and who is happier. The survey found that of the 673 people interviewed, men are 25% happier at work than women. And men are also 8% happier at home than their female counterparts.
Interestingly, the survey found that men are happier despite working more hours at the office than women on average (8.8 hours per day for men, versus 8.4 hours for women). Men also work more from home outside of company hours than women (4.6 hours vs. 3 hours). So what’s going on here?
The survey found that while women are toiling away at the office, they are still performing most of the traditional household chores when they get home. This understandably adds to their stress, fatigue, and a sense of imbalance in their lives. For instance:
• 62% of women take the lead in doing laundry, compared to 31% of men
• 56% of women do most of the cooking compared to 29% of men
• 53% of women take the lead cleaning, compared to 25% of men
• 61% of women do most of the grocery shopping, compared to 33% of men
Men are also happier because they are more likely to take a break at work when they need to. In fact, men are 25% more likely than women to take a break for personal activities in the middle of the workday. And with respect to bigger breaks, they are more likely to take vacations than female workers as well.
So, what can women do to be happier at work at home in addition to taking big and small breaks? The survey suggests they could relieve some of their stress and work-life imbalances by creating a weekly to-do list to structure their lives more efficiently. In addition, female workers should make more of a concerted effort to leave work at a reasonable hour.
An ounce of balance is worth a pound of happiness. Isn’t it time you tipped the scales in your favor?
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