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. 2024 May 29;24(1):1441.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18677-6.

Work & life stress experienced by professional workers during the pandemic: a gender-based analysis

Melissa Corrente  1 , Jungwee Park  2 , Henrietta Akuamoah-Boateng  1 , Jelena Atanackovic  1 , Ivy Lynn Bourgeault  3
Affiliations

Work & life stress experienced by professional workers during the pandemic: a gender-based analysis

Melissa Corrente et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted work and home life exacerbating pre-existing stressors and introducing new ones. These impacts were notably gendered. In this paper, we explore the different work and home life related stressors of professional workers specifically as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic through the gender-based analysis of two pan Canadian surveys: The Canadian Community Health Survey (2019, 2020, 2021) and the Healthy Professional Worker Survey (2021). Analyses revealed high rates of work stress among professional workers compared to other workers and this was particularly notable for women. Work overload emerged as the most frequently selected source of work stress, followed by digital stress, poor work relations, and uncertainty. Similar trends were noted in life stress among professional workers, particularly women. Time pressure consistently stood out as the primary source of non-work stress, caring for children and physical and mental health conditions. These findings can help to develop more targeted and appropriate workplace mental health promotion initiatives that are applicable to professional workers taking gender more fully into consideration.

Keywords: Gender-based analysis; Life stress; Professional workers; Work stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Rate (%) of high self-reported work stress (quite a bit or extremely stressful) life stress by occupation, 2019, 2020–2021, Canada
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
CSP workers’ odds ratios for high self-reported work stress compared to other workers
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Self-reported work-related stress before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Significant gender differences in the sources of work stress prior to the COVID-19 pandemic by profession
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Significant gender differences in the sources of work since the COVID-19 pandemic by profession
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Rate (%) of high self-reported life stress (quite a bit or extremely stressful) life stress by occupation, 2019, 2020–2021, Canada
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
CSP workers’ odds ratios for high self-reported life stress compared to other workers
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Self-reported life-related stress before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Significant gender differences in the sources of non-work stress prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, by profession
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
Significant gender differences in the sources of non-work stress since the COVID-19 pandemic, by profession
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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