As the saying goes, “find a job you that you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Could it really be so simple? According to Mary Davis’s innovative Jobs, Health, and the Meaning of Work (MIT Press, 2024), of course not. Davis explores the science of jobs from the vantage point of both public health and economics; in doing so, she untangles the complex weave of what makes people happy, healthy, and fulfilled at work. Sharing the real-life stories of workers who thrive (or struggle) in their jobs, this book emphasizes the point that there is no single recipe for what makes work healthy and meaningful across workers.
Topics covered in the book include wage and nonwage characteristics of jobs that impact worker well-being, the role of recessions, the concept of meaningful work, and job stress and burnout. It concludes by putting these stories and research within the context of the COVID labor economy and the future of work. This novel blend of economic and public health research deepens the discussion of what makes work meaningful. Listed among the Top 50 Fall 2024 books in Business and Economics by Publisher’s Weekly.
Available August 6, 2024. Pre-order on Amazon here.
Book Reviews
“Mary Davis challenges us to think about jobs from multiple perspectives: putting enough food on the table (or not), keeping us healthy (or not), and making us happy (or not). Jobs, Health, and The Meaning of Work offers a rich understanding of the meaning and consequences of work in our lives.”
—Paul Osterman, MIT Sloan School of Management; author of Good Jobs America and Who Will Care for Us?
“Mary Davis weaves together personal stories and research results to provide a multidimensional picture of the role of work in our lives. She highlights the many ways in which work is much more than a path to a paycheck.”
—Les Boden, Professor of Public Health, Boston University School of Public Health
“A remarkable book about the ways that work both enriches and endangers our lives. In this compact and compelling synthesis, Mary Davis includes the full range of human experiences to help us understand the latest science on work and health.”
—David Kriebel, Director, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production
“A fascinating and well-researched book that explains how work can be rewarding and bring joy and meaning to life, how it can damage physical or mental health, and, most importantly, how we can shape work so it makes our lives better, not worse.”
—David Michaels, former administrator of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
“This work is a must-read for anyone working at the intersection of health, work, and the human condition.”
—Nicholas A. Ashford, Professor of Technology and Policy, MIT; author of Crisis in the Workplace