The effects of paid and unpaid work on nurses' well‐being: the importance of gender

Abstract A handful of studies have started to explore the effects on health of both paid and unpaid work among women and men. This paper reports on a survey of a proportional random sample of 2285 women and men nurses from three regions of Ontario. We examine the effects of paid and unpaid work on their well‐being. The data were analysed for the full sample and then multiple regression analyses were run separately for men and women. In our discussion we emphasise several points: unless such data are analysed in terms of gender, as well as controlling for sex, marked differences between the experiences of men and women may be neglected; that in understanding health, it is important to take into account the influence of both paid and unpaid work; and that certain features of paid and unpaid work are often associated with well‐being ‐ control over work, the degree of challenge that work presents, recognition, satisfaction with work, social support, number of children and the level of overall stress experienced. Workload issues are also associated with women's well‐being.