Work Has Both Positive and Negative Impacts On Mental Health

By

Rebecca Perron, AARP Research

While significant literature exists around the financial impacts of work, how work impacts mental health is less studied, particularly among older workers.

Older workers recognize positive impacts to mental health from working.

About half of workers age 50-plus say their job positively affects their mental health, while 26 percent report negative impacts.  Most are satisfied with the mental health care insurance

coverage (68 percent) and other offerings at work that support mental health (64 percent).

Older workers also manage to maintain a good work–life balance (81 percent) and benefit from the positive social effects from work, including staying socially connected to others (76

percent) and making friends through their job (76 percent).

Yet, they note negative mental health impacts, too.

It is clear that work and mental health have a bidirectional relationship.  Nearly half (47 percent) have experienced issues around mental health like burnout, difficulty performing their

job due to feeling overwhelmed, mental health suffering because of demands at work, reduced job productivity due to mental health, considering quitting or actually quitting because of their

job’s impact on their mental health.

Paid leave is available for use related to mental health, but it’s not widely used.

While over 60 percent of workers have paid sick leave, and most can use it for mental health-related appointments (79 percent) or stress-related breaks (63 percent), only 31 percent have

actually used their sick leave for mental health reasons.

Employers have a role in fostering positive work environments.

Just over half of workers agree that their company makes the mental health of its workers a priority, and two-thirds say their company provides resources to address employee mental health.  

However, about half of the workers worry that discussing mental health concerns at work could negatively impact their career (48 percent) or lead to judgment from colleagues (52 percent).

Methodology

Interviews were conducted in two waves:  November 14–18, 2024 and December 12–16, 2024 among 2,026 adults age 50-plus in the Foresight 50+ Omnibus.  This included 868 individuals 50 and

older who were working and answered these questions.

Funded and operated by NORC at the University of Chicago, Foresight 50+ by AARP and NORC is a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. household population age 50 or

older.  Interviews were conducted online and via phone.  All data are weighted by age, sex, education, race/ethnicity, region, and AARP membership to be nationally representative of adults

age 50-plus in the U.S. 

For more information, please contact Rebecca Perron at [email protected]. For media inquiries, contact External Relations at [email protected].

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Suggested Citation:

Perron, Rebecca. Work and Jobs Data Trends – Mental Health: Annotated Questionnaire. Washington, DC: AARP Research, March 2025. https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00939.001

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