Using people’s cortisol levels (a biological markers of stress), Penn State researchers recently found that people have significantly lower levels of stress at work than at home.

The findings may explain why studies have found that people who work have better mental and physical health than their non-working peers.

The researchers found that women as well as men have lower levels of stress at work than at home. However, men report being happier at home than at work. Researchers also discovered that parents had lower stress at work than at home. However, parents did not experience as large a decrease in their stress levels as non-parents.

According to researcher and study author Sarah Damaske of Penn State, who penned an article discussing the study for the Council on Contemporary Families, the findings imply that advising people to reduce time spent working in order to deal with work-family conflicts may not be the best long-term advice. Damaske says that employers should consider endorsing family-friendly policies so that employees can reap the health benefits of working while also being able to meet their families responsibilities.

The findings are described in greater detail in the Journal of Science and Medicine.