Of course, this makes sense when you think about it, as those who are working more than one job are likely struggling to make ends meet, and picking up extra jobs in order to simply survive rather than thrive. But one study makes the distinction between the two ways of working even sharper. After polling more than 1,000 working Americans, Insurance Quotes produced a report comparing the happiness of those working one job with that of those working two or more. Here’s what they found.
It’s no secret that your health is tied to your happiness, as anyone with a cluster headache or even just the common cold can affirm. But a full third — 33 percent — of one-job workers can’t even get a basic medical exam. That’s a shocking number, and it’s worse for those holding more than one job: 66 percent of one-job workers can afford a routine exam, but just 58 percent of multiple-job workers can do the same.
The segment of Americans who are the least happy is easy to pinpoint: It’s those who get a base pay supplemented with tips. This group hit 4.3 on a 1-7 scale of happiness. However, they did rank high for one factor, work-life balance. Furthermore, around 60 percent of these unhappy Americans work in the food service industry. At the top of the happy list: self-employed, at 5.4 happiness, while freelancers trail them at 5.3 happiness.
59 percent of those with a single job — and 52 percent of those with more than one job — said they were not satisfied with the pay rate they earned. For the millions of Americans working more than one job, financial security remains a distant goal.
