Nearly half of Kiwis come to work when sick — research

also a drop in the number of people who felt they were getting enough sleep, having good quality sleep and felt they were at a healthy weight.

Fewer people felt able to take care of their parents’ health and wellbeing or were in a good position to fund their child’s education.

Financially, Kiwis felt they were doing better than last year, with the financial well-being index rising from 52.2 to 55.1.

But only 28 per cent of Kiwis described their financial situation as okay or good, with fewer than one in five believing they would have enough money for retirement.

Fewer than one in five Kiwis also felt they would have financial security if they were unable to work.

Gail Costa, Cigna New Zealand chief executive, said the research showed New Zealanders believed they had to stay focused on their current commitments to stay afloat, leaving little time to spend thinking about, or preparing for, their future.

“As we go through the many stages in our lives, our perceptions of our well-being will change, and at these various stages we should always reassess ourselves and see how we can work toward preparing for the next milestone.”

Finances were a major factor in people feeling stressed, with 31 per cent pointing to money as the main cause of stress for them while 39 per Less than one in five are financially secure if unable to work.

39 per cent said work was the main cause of stress, 31 per cent said finances were their main cause of stress.

New Zealand ranked fourth worst in the world for unmanageable stress.

New Zealand’s overall health and wellbeing fell from 62.7 points in 2017 to 60.8 points in 2018. cent said work was their main cause of stress.

New Zealand ranked fourth equal for the worst levels of unmanageable stress, with one in five respondents claiming their stress was unmanageable.

Human resources head MacPhee said Cigna’s research showed work pressure, workload and performance expectations were behind the high stress levels.

“Even though they might be recent graduates the expectation that they would come in and perform was really high.”

She also pointed to high incidences of workplace bullying in New Zealand.

“Any issues like that will have an impact. That people are finding unmanageable is a big concern.”

MacPhee said the 24 hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week nature of some roles meant people were under pressure to respond rapidly, which made it harder for people to switch off work.

“One thing that might not stress one individual might stress someone else.”

MacPhee said it was beholden on an employer to assess whether staff were under unmanageable stress.

“They need to recognise people are not going to do their best work if they are feeling stressed all the time.”

Around 500 New Zealanders took part in the research. it