If you’re worried that your job is killing you, you may be right.
A study by researchers at Harvard and Stanford has quantified just how many years a stressful workplace can shave off Americans’ lives. The study suggests that the amount of life lost due to stress varies “significantly” for people of different races, educational levels and genders, according to The Washington Post.
The Post reported that researchers say this is the first study to look at how the workplace influences life expectancy specifically broken down by racial and educational lines.
For example, it found that the wealthy have extended their life spans while other groups have remained stagnant. The data also show that people with less education are more likely to end up in jobs with more unhealthy workplace practices that can cut life span.
And there are the usual suspects, like differences in health care, exposure to air and water pollution, nutrition and health care early in life and behaviors like smoking, exercise and diet that make a big difference.
According to the Post, researchers said their findings have a clear takeaway — workplaces need to be healthier, particularly for workers with less education.
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