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Night owls were 1.7 times more likely to leave work early on health grounds

Qurexa Editorial Team2 October 20267 min read 0 0
Night owls were 1.7 times more likely to leave work early on health grounds

What happened

A study published on 29 September 2026 in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine looked at whether being a night owl is linked to leaving work early for health reasons. The research was done in Finland. It followed 5,679 people: 2,597 men and 3,082 women. They were surveyed in 2012, when they were all 46 years old, and then followed through official records for 12 years. At the start, participants were sorted into three groups by their body clock preference, which scientists call chronotype. Morning types prefer to get up and be active early. Evening types come alive later in the day. Intermediate types sit in between. Most people were morning types: 1,182 men, which is 46 per cent, and 1,355 women, 44 per cent. Evening types were a smaller group: 253 men, 9.7 per cent, and 381 women, 12.4 per cent. The rest were intermediate. Over the following 12 years, the researchers tracked who received a disability pension. In Finland, that is a state payment for people who can no longer work, or can only work reduced hours, because of ill health. During the follow-up, 135 men, 5.2 per cent, and 249 women, 8.1 per cent, received one for the first time. The finding was that evening types were about 1.7 times more likely than morning types to receive a disability pension. In other words, roughly 70 per cent more likely. The link held for both men and women, and it remained after the researchers adjusted for socioeconomic factors such as education and occupation. The authors wrote that "people who are E-type represent a significant proportion of the population and their health and ability to continue working until retirement age pose challenges".

Why this matters

Most of us do not choose our body clock. It is substantially inherited, and it shifts with age. Teenagers naturally drift later; older adults tend to drift earlier. Yet the working world is largely built for morning types. School starts early. Most jobs start early. Being at your sharpest at ten in the evening is, in practical terms, badly timed. That is the quiet point behind this study. Evening types are not a tiny minority. In this sample they were about one in ten men and one in eight women, and the proportion is higher among younger adults. If that group is systematically more likely to drop out of work early because of ill health, that is a lot of people and a lot of lost working years. It also lands at a moment when the UK is actively debating how to keep people in work for longer. The state pension age is rising. A great deal of government effort is going into helping people with health conditions stay employed. If sleep timing is part of the picture, it is a part that has been largely ignored. And for individuals, there is something useful in simply having the pattern named. Plenty of lifelong night owls have been told they are lazy or disorganised. This research suggests something more structural is going on, and that the mismatch carries a real cost to health over decades.

What the evidence actually says

This study shows a link. It does not show that being a night owl causes ill health, and the researchers are careful to say so. It was an observational study. The researchers watched what happened to people over time; they did not change anything. That means other explanations cannot be ruled out. The most likely explanation is not the body clock itself but the mismatch between it and the schedule. An evening type working early shifts is chronically short of sleep on work days and sleeping long on days off. That pattern, sometimes called social jetlag, is associated with a range of health problems. The night owl in a job that starts at eleven may be perfectly fine. Behaviour may also play a part. Evening preference has been associated in other research with higher rates of smoking, higher alcohol use and less physical activity. Some of what looks like a chronotype effect may be those behaviours. The researchers did adjust for socioeconomic factors, which strengthens the finding. But they note an important limitation: chronotype and circumstances were measured once, at age 46. Changes in health, job or sleep pattern over the following 12 years were not captured. Finally, this is one country. Finland has long dark winters and a specific disability pension system. The pattern may not transfer exactly to the UK, though the underlying biology would be expected to. So: a real and reasonably large association, in a decent-sized study, with a plausible mechanism, and no proof of cause.

Practical advice

If you are a lifelong night owl, none of this means you are destined for ill health. Here are some things that are within reach. Protect your sleep length, even if you cannot change your timing. The problem is less about when you sleep than about how little you get. If you must be up at six, going to bed at one most nights is the thing to tackle. Get morning light. Light in the first hour or two after waking is the strongest signal your body clock responds to. Even on a grey British morning, outdoor light is far brighter than indoor light. A short walk helps. Dim the evening. Bright light and screens late at night push your clock later still. Lower the lights an hour or so before bed. Ask about your shift pattern. If you work shifts or have any flexibility at all, a later start is not a luxury for an evening type; it is a reasonable adjustment. It is worth raising with a manager, and many employers are more open to it than people expect. Watch the things that tend to travel with late nights: smoking, drinking more than you meant to, and skipping exercise. These are where the health cost often actually lands. Take persistent problems seriously. If you are regularly exhausted, snoring heavily, or falling asleep during the day, see your GP. Conditions such as sleep apnoea are common, treatable, and often missed. And if sleep has been a struggle for years, ask about cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, often shortened to CBT-I. It is the recommended first treatment for long-term insomnia in the UK, ahead of sleeping tablets.

What to know

A Finnish study published on 29 September 2026 followed 5,679 people from age 46 for 12 years. Evening types were about 1.7 times more likely than morning types to receive a disability pension, a state payment for people who can no longer work because of ill health. Evening types made up 9.7 per cent of men and 12.4 per cent of women in the sample. Over the follow-up, 5.2 per cent of men and 8.1 per cent of women received a first disability pension. The link held for both sexes after adjusting for socioeconomic factors. The study was observational and cannot prove cause and effect. Chronotype was measured only once, at the start. The most likely explanation is the mismatch between a late body clock and an early working day, along with behaviours that often go with it. Practical steps that help: protect sleep length, get bright light in the morning, dim lights in the evening, and ask about a later start if your job allows it. Sources: BMJ Group, "Night owls may struggle to continue working until official retirement age", 29 September 2026, https://bmjgroup.com/night-owls-may-struggle-to-continue-working-until-official-retirement-age/ ; Occupational and Environmental Medicine, https://oem.bmj.com/ ; BMJ Group press release index, 30 September 2026, https://bmjgroup.com/category/press-release/ This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. If you are persistently exhausted or worried about your sleep, please speak to a professional.

#sleep#chronotype#working life#health research#shift work#wellbeing

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