are unpaid labour and mental load often disproportionately performed by women?
Answers
Following on from the previous analysis of domestic work in a range of settings, this chapter highlights the links between paid and unpaid work in relation to occupational health problems. In recent years researchers have begun to pay increasing attention to the influence of both work and unemployment on mental health. However, many questions are still unanswered and the implications of these issues for occupational health provision remain largely unexplored. This chapter creates a framework for moving the debate on. It explores the different dimensions of work that can affect mental health in either positive or negative ways. Characteristics such as security, control, isolation and levels of social support in both paid and unpaid work can all influence mental wellbeing but these traits are not equally distributed between different types of work. As a result, gender, class and race inequalities in mental health can often be reinforced by subjective experiences of work and unemployment.