If you're a working adult who feels like you're getting less sleep than you used to, you're not alone. A recent look at national survey data shows the percentage of employed adults in the U.S. who report averaging six hours or less of sleep in a 24-hour period has increased. It went from 28.4% in 2008-2009 to 32.6% in 2017-2018. That means roughly one in three working adults now reports this short sleep duration. The data comes from surveys of adults aged 18 and older who were employed at the time. It's important to understand what this data is—and what it isn't. This is an observational snapshot based on people's own reports of their sleep. We don't know why the numbers went up. It could be due to work stress, screen time, or many other factors the survey didn't measure. The data also can't tell us if this lack of sleep is directly causing health problems for these individuals. It simply shows a shift in what people are reporting about their nightly rest.
Survey finds increase in employed US adults reporting ≤6 hours of sleep from 2008 to 2018Are more working adults getting too little sleep? A new survey suggests yes
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A survey report analyzed data from currently employed adults aged ≥18 years in the United States. The study measured the percentage of this population reporting an average of ≤6 hours of sleep per 24-hour period. No specific intervention, exposure, or comparator was reported.
The main finding was an increase in the reported prevalence of short sleep duration. The percentage of employed adults reporting ≤6 hours of sleep rose from 28.4% in the 2008-2009 period to 32.6% in the 2017-2018 period. The report did not provide effect sizes, absolute numbers, p-values, or confidence intervals for this change.
Safety, tolerability, and adverse event data were not reported. Key limitations include the observational, survey-based nature of the data, which prevents causal inference. The sample size and specific survey methodology were also not detailed. Funding sources and potential conflicts of interest were not reported.
For practice, this report highlights a descriptive trend of increasing self-reported short sleep duration among a working population over a decade. The data suggest this may be a growing public health concern, but clinicians should interpret the findings cautiously as survey reports cannot establish causality or determine clinical impact. The lack of granular data on demographics, occupations, or health outcomes limits specific clinical applications.
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