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Job quality
Not all work is protective of health. Some analysis shows that poor quality employment is as bad for health as unemployment

Key stats

11%
of all employees report their health as less than good. Employees with low job security and low job satisfaction are most likely to report poor health.
20%
of employees with three or more aspects of low-quality work report less than good work, compared to 6% of employees who experience none.
1 in 3
employees experience at least two negative aspects of job quality.
Half
of employees report low job autonomy.

While unemployment is associated with worse health outcomes, not all work is necessarily protective of health. Indeed, some analysis shows that poor quality employment is as bad for health as unemployment. The nature of jobs varies massively: in terms of pay, but also the hazards faced, the level of security, control and autonomy over the job and the support offered to the worker.

The charts in this section explore the relationship between job quality and health, as well as trends and inequalities in job quality.

Relationship between job quality and health

Trends and inequalities in job quality

Explore other subtopics within Work
Employment and unemployment
This relates to people wanting but lacking paid employment, or people in employment looking for additional hours
Job security
This relates to confidence in the continued existence of a job or hours of work

Explore the topics

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Health inequalities

Money and resources
Poverty | Income | Debt

Work
Quality | Unemployment | Security

Housing
Affordability | Quality | Stability | Security

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Transport
Active travel | Social exclusion | Trends

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Family, friends and community
Personal relationships | Community cohesion

This is part of Evidence hub: What drives health inequalities?

Data, insights and analysis exploring how the circumstances in which we live shape our health
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