As we know, sleep is essential for our overall health and well-being, but to what extent is poor sleep harming us and the country? From exacerbated physical and mental health conditions to avoidable accidents and lost productivity, the effects are significant.
Sleep Debt, the difference between the sleep we should be getting compared to what we actually are, can cause or exacerbate a raft of physical and mental health conditions.
Stress, anxiety & depression
Psychosis
PTSD
Bipolar Disorder
Vascular disease
Stroke
Hypertension
Type 2 diabetes
Obesity
Sleep deprivation can come with some or all of the following symptoms:
Drowsiness and fatigue
Poor concentration, focus & memory
Irritability and mood changes
Behaviour changes & impaired judgement
Slowed reaction times
Headaches
Reduced cognitive ability
Stress, depression & anxiety
Reduced sex drive & social activity
Although we don’t have data for the UK, a 2023 study published in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that men who get adequate sleep live, on average, around five years longer. For women, adequate sleep adds two years to average life expectancy.
In their Sleep Manifesto 2024, The Sleep Charity has found that 9/10 people in the UK are experiencing sleep issues, and are suffering in silence for up to six years before seeking help.
At Bensons for Beds, we recommend that everybody wash and change their bedding once per week and flip or rotate their mattresses every two weeks.
In 2022, we surveyed our customers and found that 42% changed their sheets 50 times per year, about 4 per month. 22% said they changed their bedding every 2 - 3 weeks, while just over 5% admitted they never changed them!
Data from Bensons: How often do people buy new pillows/duvets/mattresses?
30% of Brits are experiencing sleep poverty - the inability to get quality sleep due to socioeconomic factors - with 18-25-year-olds most impacted.
Nearly 33% of adults in Britain experience poor sleep due to financial worries.
34% of Brits say they have become “used to living with their problems” while 17% felt nothing could be done to solve them. Finally, 17% felt their work or education had suffered as a result of poor sleep.At the same time, 75% of Brits cite workplace stress as a significant cause of sleep issues
According to Nuffield Health and Zurich, disrupted sleep increases the risk of work absence by 171%, equating to £37bn per year in lost productivity.
At the same time, NHS Employers estimates that 207,000 working days are lost every year in the UK to insufficient sleep, worth around £50bn and equal to 1.74m nurses’ salaries.
Nuffield Health’s Healthier Nation Index 2023 shows that employees in different industries report differing levels of sleep satisfaction, with just 32% of retail workers and 34% of HR professionals rating their sleep as good. At the other end of the scale, workers in IT (48%) and finance (44%) rated their sleep as ‘good’.
An average of six working days per year are lost per employee who sleeps less than six hours per night.
Zurich
In 2022, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) identified that there were 1300 traffic collisions, that resulted in injury, where driver fatigue played a role. Additionally, 63% of workers admit to being drowsy during their commute.
Data from The Health & Safety Dept suggests that 13% of workplace accidents are caused by fatigue, with sleep-deprived employees 1.6x more likely to suffer a workplace injury. In the UK, fatigue-related injuries cost businesses £240m per year.
In the UK, the double bed and the king-size bed reign supreme, making up about 36% and 35% of our yearly sales, respectively.
