Sleepless nights are costing billions

Millions of adults lie awake night after night, and it's not just their health that suffers. Insomnia is now costing the economy billions each year, according to a new study by SEO Economic Research, based on GP diagnoses and data from Statistics Netherlands.

Around 1.4 million adults in the Netherlands regularly struggle to get a good night’s sleep. For many, this leads to long-term exhaustion, poor mental wellbeing, and eventually, declining performance at work.

Increased screen time, especially in the evenings, is fuelling the rise in sleep deprivation. Another factor is spending too much time indoors, where the level of natural light during daytime is far lower than outside and in the evenings often too bright. Our bodies rely on daylight to keep our internal clocks in sync with the time of day. Without enough exposure to daylight, the brain may struggle to send the right signals for when to feel tired and prepare the body for sleep.

Photo by Tim Durgan on Unsplash 

The latest research goes a step further by calculating how insomnia affects earnings, and the findings are striking.

Workers suffering from insomnia earn, on average, €800 less each year due to reduced performance or frequent absences. With 1.4 million people affected, this adds up to a staggering €1.1 billion in lost productivity.

And it doesn’t stop there. When someone with chronic insomnia ends up on welfare, the economic loss jumps to €45,000 per person each year. Currently, 36,000 people with insomnia receive benefits, resulting in an additional €1.6 billion in lost productivity.

Altogether, the total cost to the Dutch 1economy amounts to €2.7 billion annually, and that figure is likely a conservative estimate.

Sleeplessness is more than a personal struggle, it’s an economic issue. Tackling it effectively and educating people on what they can do to improve their sleep could not only help millions feel and function better, but also bring billions back into the economy.

Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2573289