New Study Says Less Money = Less Sleep

Money may not buy happiness, but apparently those who have it are sleeping better.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently took a close look at numbers from the 2013 Health Interview Survey.  Since the CDC considers sleep deficiency a public health epidemic, the amount of sleep that individuals are receiving was of major interest.  What they found was very interesting.

Just under two-thirds of people living below the federal poverty line — $23,550 for a family of four in 2013 — reported getting more than 6 hours of sleep per night that year. But nearly three-quarters of people with incomes at 400% of the poverty level — $94,200 for that same family of four — reported getting that much sleep.

Lack of sleep can lead to memory issues, illness and infection, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, chronic pain and other physical maladies.

The CDC study and other studies have found that the reason lower income individuals are sleeping less is rather simple: they’re trading sleep for work.  Many of the nation’s working poor are holding down multiple jobs to make ends meet. A study released last year found that multiple job holders were “were 61 percent more likely than others to report sleeping 6 hours or less on weekdays.”

Source: Washington Post