With the average worker losing 11.3 days of productivity to insomnia each year, employers should be losing sleep
Not sleeping enough can have serious health costs. But it can have pretty big financial costs, too, according to a new study in the journal Sleep. Insomnia is “an under-appreciated problem,” says lead author Ronald Kessler, at Harvard Medical School. “Americans are not missing work because of insomnia,” but they are doing lousy work because they’re tired. “It’s difficult to find a condition that has a greater effect on productivity.” How great is the hit to our economy, and our lives? Here, the numbers:
11.3
Days the average worker loses to insomnia each year
$2,280
Estimated cost of that insomnia, in lost productivity, per worker
50-70 million
Estimated number of American employees who report being impaired during the day due to poor sleep
$63.2 billion
Cost of that lost productivity for the nation as a whole
23.2
Percentage of U.S. workers sleep-deprived due to insomnia
14.3
Percentage of workers 65 and older with insomnia
19.7
Percentage of working men with insomnia
27.1
Percentage of working women with insomnia
25.3
Percentage of insomnia among workers with a high school education
19.9
Percentage of insomnia among workers who dropped out of high school
21.5
Percentage of insomnia among workers with a college degree
20
Percentage of insomniacs on medication or in behavioral therapy
$200
Annual cost of sleep-aid medication
$1,200
Annual cost of sleep behavior modification therapy
$40 billion
Amount Americans spend on coffee each year
7,428
Number of full-time employees surveyed for the study
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