our stressful lives: the channel 4 stress survey

OK, so you know you feel stressed. Life seems like a whirlwind getting faster and faster with no chance of getting out. But what are the real facts about stress in British working life today?

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A Channel 4 survey, commissioned to launch this stress website in October 2000, reveals some fascinating facts about our stressful lives.

The poll, carried out for Channel 4 by Taylor Nelson Sofres Phonebus, was conducted in September 2000. A total 534 adults were interviewed, aged 16 and over, in full and part-time work.

key findings

These are the main results from the survey:

41% of all workers said their work-related stress levels had increased in the previous 12 months. This suggests a total 11.5 million British workers have felt stress levels rise in that time.
Younger workers were more likely to have felt higher stress levels, with 46% of 16-24 year olds saying stress had increased, compared with 36% of 55-64 year olds.
Part-time workers were less likely to report increased stress levels, with 29% saying they felt more stress compared with 45% of full-timers.
Those in the survey who were widowed, divorced or separated were more likely to experience higher work stress, with 62% reporting an increase compared with 40% who were married or cohabiting and 38% of singles.
Children apparently made little difference to rising stress levels. The study showed 43% of workers with children reported increased stress compared with 40% without children.
The most stressed-out region in the survey was the south-east (49% reporting an increase in work-related stress).
The factors most often blamed for increased stress levels were unrealistic workload (32%) and long working hours (29%).
Nearly one in 10 workers (8%) said their stress caused physical symptoms. Many reported other work-related stress symptoms. The most common were irritability (29%), changes in sleep patterns and inability to relax (both 28%).
Despite the stress toll, 77% said their stress levels were acceptable. People in the south-west in the survey found their stress levels most unacceptable (27%) compared with 15% nationwide.

who gets stressed?

A total 41% of people working full or part-time said their stress levels had increased in the previous 12 months. However, 58% said their stress had not risen, while 1% did not know.
Male workers were slightly more prone to rising stress than women. A total 42% of men said their stress levels had risen compared with 40% of women.
Younger people were more likely to say stress levels had gone up. Among 16 to 24-year-olds, 46% said stress had risen. This fell to 41% among 25 to 34-year-olds, 42% of 35 to 44-year-olds, 38% of 45 to 54-year-olds, and 36% of 55 to 64-year-olds.
Among workers with children, 43% reported increased stress but 40% did not.
People who were married or co-habiting were slightly less likely than average (at 40%) to report stress levels going up. People who were single were also below average at 38%. But the biggest sufferers of increased stress were widowed, divorced or separated. A total 62% in this group said stress had climbed.

are we coping?

Most people (77%) found work stress levels acceptable. One in eight (15%) said they were not.
This figure differed little with age.

what makes us stressed?

Workload was the biggest bugbear for stress. A small but significant minority (4%) blamed workplace bullying or harassment. People blamed these factors for their stress:

unrealistic workload (32%)
long hours (29%)
poor line management (25%)
work impacting on family and personal life (23%)
workplace politics (22%)
workplace bullying or harassment (4%).

stress makes us sick

Stress is causing physical illhealth and other problems for many working people. The survey asked which symptoms people had suffered in the last 12 months due to workplace stress. The results were:

irritability (29%)
changes in sleep patterns (29%)
inability to relax (28%)
changes in eating patterns (18%)
inability to concentrate (17%)
anxiety or depression (16%)
physical illness (8%)
memory loss (8%)
substance misuse ie drugs/drinking or smoking too much (5%).

stress hurts families

One in five people (20%) said work stress was causing their family or personal life to suffer. The survey found:

this response was fairly consistent among age groups
people who were widowed, divorced or separated were more likely (27%) to say stress affected their personal or family life. Single people were least likely (10%) to say this
people with children were, not surprisingly, more likely (26%) to say stress harmed their family and personal life compared with those without children (17%).

(November 2000)