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Britons work longest hours in the EU
British people work on average 100 hours a year more than workers in the rest of the European Union, according to figures released today.
The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that the average UK employee works for 1,673 hours each year - the equivalent of 32 hours 10 minutes a week - compared to 1,354 in Holland, 1,446 in Germany and 1,453 in France.
But the image of a workaholic nation was shaken by other details in the OECD's annual employment outlook report, which showed that the number of hours worked per adult in the UK has actually fallen by about 7% over the past 30 years, while it has soared by up to 20% in countries like the US, Canada and New Zealand.
For Britons in employment, the average number of hours worked per year has dropped steadily from 1,815 in 1979 to 1,708 in 2000 and 1,673 last year, largely due to a growth in part-time jobs. Part-time workers made up 23.3% of the UK labour force in 2003, compared to 16.6% in the EU as a whole and 14.8% in all OECD states.
Annual hours worked in 2003 were well behind the US (1,792), Australia (1,814) and Poland (1,956) and paled in comparison with South Korea, where those in full or part-time work put in 2,390 hours a year on average - almost 46 hours a week.
According to the OECD, British adults now work 785 hours a year. This is more than the French (611 hours) and Germans (685), but less than in the US (866 hours), Australia (871) and Japan (922).
At present, some 73% of working-age adults in the UK have a full or part-time job, well ahead of the 65% OECD average, but behind Denmark, Norway and Switzerland (which exceed 75%) and Iceland, where employment rates are around 82%.
The organisation of the world's most developed states warned that British workers may be paying the price for a long-hours culture in job insecurity and pressures on family life. The report found that British workers have less protection against dismissal than anyone else in the developed world except America.
The OECD predicted global falls in unemployment over the coming two years but said that it expected 36 million people to remain jobless, almost 7% of the combined workforce of its 30 member states.
It called on all members to balance flexibility in employment law with protection for workers. Efforts to drive more people into work may simply lead to the creation of short-term, insecure jobs, according to the report.
"As governments strive to tackle unemployment, the OECD urges them to avoid taking too narrow an approach and to consider wider economic and social objectives as well," said the OECD in a statement.
"On the one hand, less strict employment protection legislation may make it easier for employers to hire workers, thereby improving the job chances of groups which are subject to entry problems, such as young people and women. But this can also damage job security and sometimes put undue emphasis on the creation of temporary forms of employment."
In its analysis of UK working trends, the report noted: "Longer or more flexible hours can be a plus if they reflect greater opportunities to participate in paid employment or contribute to higher living standards by increasing family incomes.
"However, families may also face a 'time squeeze', especially when young children or other persons requiring personal care are present in the home. Policies to encourage higher employment or working-time flexibility should be complemented by measures to help families to reconcile work and family life."
The OECD also called for governments to support welfare recipients in their search for work, cut red tape on businesses, make tax and social security systems more coherent and support lifelong learning.
Britain's labour market held up well during the recent global slowdown, with 1% growth in 2002 and 2003 (better than the US and the rest of the EU) according to the OECD. The UK unemployment rate of 5% remained well below the 7% OECD average.
But the report warned that declining employment rates among people who leave school before their A-levels were "a particular point of weakness" for the UK. It added: "Increasing the employment rate - and not simply lowering the unemployment rate - will become an increasingly important policy goal as the number of persons in retirement increases relative to the population of working age."