Association between work situation and life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic: prospective cohort study in Norway

Objectives: To estimate the impact of being laid off from work, having to work from home or having been diagnosed with COVID-19 on self-reported satisfaction with life.

Design: Nationwide population-based cohort study.

Setting: Norway.

Participants: We followed more than 80 000 participants in an ongoing cohort study, the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analysed current life satisfaction in April and again in September/October 2020 for subjects whose work situation and infection status had changed.

Main outcome measures: Self-reported satisfaction with life, using a scale from 0 (worst) to 10 (best). We analysed the scale both continuously and as a binary variable (<or ≥6).

Results: Temporary and permanent layoffs, working from a home-based office, and getting a COVID-19 diagnosis were all associated with modestly, but significantly lower concurrent life satisfaction, both in the total on a population level and for subjects experiencing a change in job status between spring and autumn. The associations with change in work situation were stronger for men. For men with permanent job loss, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for low life satisfaction (<6) was 3.2 (95% CI 2.4 to 4.2) in April and 4.9 (95% CI 3.5 to 6.9) in autumn. Among all, a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with an adjusted OR for low life satisfaction of 1.9 (95% CI 1.6 to 2.3) in spring. The strength of associations between work situation and life satisfaction did not vary much across socio-economic strata, but layoffs were more common among those with low education.

Conclusion: Layoffs, home office and infection status had clear impact on the quality of life as measured with a global life satisfaction scale. These findings suggest that social differentials in quality of life, are increasing during the pandemic.