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November 05, 2012 at 09:28 AM
Personal and household finances are a significant contributor to high stress levels, new research reveals.
Sun Life Financial Inc., Toronto, released this finding in the company’s “2012 Canadian Health Index Report,” which measures the attitudes of Canadians towards healthy lifestyles and reports these in the form of an index. The index is based on findings of an Ipsos Reid poll of 3,113 Canadians, ages 18 to 80.
More than 6 in 10 (61 percent) unemployed individuals say that personal and household finances are a significant contributor to high stress levels, as compared to only 44percent of Canadians who are employed full-time, the report states.
Survey respondents identify both emotional and physical benefits associated with work. The top three, the report indicates, are keeping active (identified by 25 percent of the respondents), socializing (7percent) and remaining stimulated or challenged (also 7 percent).
The report adds that 30 percent of unemployed individuals say they have “always or usually felt overwhelmed by stress in the past month” This compares with just 21percent of full-time workers and 16percent of the self-employed.
Nationally, the report states, more than three-quarters (72 percent) of Canadians are experiencing excessive or uncomfortable levels of the stress—and the youngest Canadians are most likely to feel the effects.
