The Family and Free Time - Is Our Work Week Getting Longer?

A number of analysts have reported that we are working longer hours and that leisure time is declining — in spite of increased productivity rates and growing incomes. The media so frequently repeat that we are overworked that the notion has become a commonplace. But are we?

The panel charts the average hours worked by men and women for private sector employers from 1967 to 1998. There was a steady decline during this period. The average workweek fell from 38 hours in 1967 to 34.6 hours in 1998.¹ The workweek has been fairly stable along gender lines as well, with men seeing a small decrease in their hours. Women have seen a small spike — as more women entered the workforce and worked year round.

What about our actual work arrangements? Are some of us working longer weeks? The answer is, Yes. Those working more than 49 hours a week grew from 13% to 19.9% of workers. But the share of those working 40 hours a week or less has dropped. Those working between 41 and 48 hours a week remained almost the same.

Distribution of Workers by Time Worked, 1976 and 2000

Hours	1976 (%)	2000 (%)	Change, 76 to 00
1-34	24.5	22.9	-1.6
35-39	7.3	6.6	-0.7
40	4.6	39.3	-5.3
41-48	10.6	11.3	0.7
49 and over	13.0	19.9	6.9

These data indicate that the percentage of those who work 40 hours or less decreased from 76.4% to 68.8% of the workforce between 1976 and 2000. Those who work more than 40 hours a week routinely went up from 23.6% to 32.2%. It seems that long hours have it, by a nose — although the Department of Labor, in another study, suggests that the hours of managers and professionals, those most likely to work long weeks, have more or less held steady without much variation since 1982 at around 42 hours a week.

Men and women are thus on the job slightly longer over the course of a year than they used to be. Many families now have two people in the workforce as women's participation rates rise. This suggests that work may be encroaching on our leisure time — as the media claim.

Source: "Are Managers and Professionals Really Working More?" Issues in Labor Statistics, May 12, 2000; "Overwork Overstated." Retrieved online March 8, 2002 from http://www.ncpa.org; Elaine L. Chao, U.S. Department of Labor, Report on the American Work-force.