Women's working week up by half a day

Friday, 10 October 2003 12:00 AM

Women's working work has increased by over half a day in the last five years, according to a survey released today.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that the average working week for women has increased to 33.9 hours, up by three and a half hours when compared to 1998.

In contrast, men's average working week has fallen from 45.5 to 44.8 hours over the same five-year period. The survey also found that the average working week for all workers has increased slightly to 39.6 hours.

The survey concludes that the Government's campaign to improve people's work-life balance has had little or no effect to date.

The 'only crumb of comfort' for the Government lies in the fact that almost one in four employees have cut back their hours in the past five years, although the biggest single factor behind this reduction is parenthood.

Mike Emmott, CIPD Head of Employee Relations commented; 'The overall trend in working hours among female workers is upwards. This is not however necessarily bad news. Relatively few of those working long hours are women. If efforts to secure equal treatment for women at work are to bear fruit we can expect to see their experience of work and working patterns aligned more closely with those of men.'

The survey reveals that the number of people working more than 48 hours a week has increased from one in ten to one in four during the past five years.

Mr Emmott argued that the survey reveals little evidence for the removal of the opt-out clause for working more than 48 hours a week.

He added, 'Half of those who work long hours say they do so entirely as a result of their own choice. They are just as satisfied as other people with their lives inside and outside work. More than half are either managers or professionals who should be well placed to exercise informed choices about their hours.'

More than a quarter of all respondents asked claimed to have suffered some sort of physical ailment as a result of working long hours. A similar proportion said that the long hours culture has had a detrimental effect on their mental health in terms of stress or depression and more than a quarter admitted to suffering with health problems as a result of working long hours.

The survey found that more than a quarter of long hours workers (27 per cent), believed that long hours have affected their sex lives and the relationship with their children. Forty-three per cent said that long hours 'gets in the way of' their relationship with their partner or spouse.

Despite the average increase in the working week for women, they still make up one quarter of all long hours workers, but female long hours workers are far more likely to report that they 'have little time to themselves' than male long hour workers.

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