Work-life imbalance, health and wellbeing of older workers: a meta-analysis

This paper aims to provide a meta-analytic examination of the relationship between work-life imbalance and health and wellbeing of older workers. Five hundred forty-four records were extracted from the databases. It was found that the overall odds ratio (OR) between work-life imbalance and the health of older workers was 1.369. Five types of health-related conditions were identified, namely burnout, mental health, physical health, self-rated health and social wellbeing. The category of burnout had the highest effect size and followed by self-rated health, mental health and physical health. The category with the lowest effect size was social wellbeing. The potential moderators in the relationship between work-life imbalance and the health of older workers included gender, region, decade of publication, working class and factors of work-life imbalance. The findings of this study suggest that work-life imbalance has an impact on health and wellbeing of older workers. Policy makers and organizational stakeholders should promote sustainable human resource practices so that staff development and employee wellbeing are targeted at all age groups including older workers. Older workers should have equal access to employability enhancing practices. Older workers and supervisors should be engaged in social dialogue to foster conversations on older workers’ needs and expectations regarding work, non-work and personal fulfillment.