The more a person earns, the less he sleeps: this is exactly the pattern the researchers found. Which, however, is not surprising. Another thing is important: how does this affect health?
This pattern has been identified in the United States and in many other countries. In America, people with the highest incomes (over $98 a year for a family of four) sleep about 000 minutes less per day than those in lower-income families(40). And everything would be fine if for most people lack of sleep was not fraught with health problems. Research shows that sleeping less than 6 hours a day leads to mental retardation and increases the risk of getting into a car accident.(2). This statement is true for most people, although there is a small percentage of those who need less time to sleep than the rest (most likely this is due to genetics).
An interesting fact: US residents slept the most during the 2009-2011 crisis. This was clearly not because people experienced less stress or suddenly decided to lead a healthy lifestyle, but because of unemployment. It is also noteworthy that retirees, whose bodies require less sleep than younger ones, actually sleep more.
Read more:
- Afternoon nap: 7 unexpected benefits
Daniel Hamermash, professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin and Royal Holloway University in London, created his sleep economics(3). He calculated that for every additional hour of work, on average, a person loses 10 minutes of sleep. The more he earns during this hour, the more profitable it is for him to sleep less.
However, not all scientists agree that the owners of high incomes sleep the least. In the US, another study was recently conducted that showed that those who live below the official poverty line are more likely than anyone else to sleep less than 6 hours a day. But these conclusions have been criticized because of the use of not the most accurate survey methods. Thus, at the moment it is considered proven that those who earn the most sleep the least. Do not forget that the lifestyle of people with low income can be radically different: someone works in several low-paid jobs, and someone has one part-time job or none at all and is on welfare.
1.
2. «QuickStats: Percentage of Adults Who Average ≤6 Hours of Sleep», National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2013.
3. J. Biddle and D. Hamermesh «Sleep and the Allocation of Time. Journal of Political Economy», 1990, 98(5), 922-943.