We'd like to work less - even with a pay cut
By Adele Horin | theage.com.au | 27 July
Too many Australians are over-worked and feel rushed "often or almost all the time", a new study funded by three state governments reveals.
Based on interviews with 2831 working men and women, it shows people on average want to work 35 hours a week - almost four hours less than the norm.
Men would prefer to work 38 hours but almost one in three works 48 hours or more. Three-quarters would be happy to take a pay cut to work fewer hours. Most women want to work 30 hours. Many employees complained of work overload - and 54 per cent agreed they "often had too much work for one person to manage". And more than a third of workers said supervisors expected them to put work ahead of personal life.
The study, to be released on Tuesday, was funded by the Australian Research Council and the South Australian, West Australian and Victorian governments.
Despite the common experience of feeling rushed, 68 per cent of workers were happy with their work-life balance.
However, the one in three who were not were more likely to be mothers, professionals, managers and people who worked in information technology, the media and telecommunications, and mining.
People in high-income households (above $90,000) and those in low-income households (below $30,000) had poorer work-life interactions.
"There is a widespread mismatch between the hours that Australian workers have to work and those they want to work," the report says.
Completed in March and April, it found that over half of workers did not have a good fit between their actual and preferred work hours, with a mismatch of at least half a day. About 80 per cent of the men and 70 per cent of the women wanted to work less.
It explodes the myth that most people working long hours have such interesting jobs they cannot bear to leave the office. Three-quarters of those working 48 hour-plus weeks would prefer different hours, almost all of them fewer, even if it meant less money.
"There's a sense abroad that work is taking more energy and more time from households and individuals than ever," said Barbara Pocock, the director of the Centre for Work and Life, at the University of South Australia.
She is a co-author, with Natalie Skinner, of the study, Work, Life and Workplace Culture, which provides a barometer of how well Australia is faring in settling the work-life balance conundrum.
The study found 55 per cent of employees "often or almost always" felt rushed or pressed for time, with seven out of 10 mothers in that category.
"Those in unsupportive cultures have more work-life conflict," Dr Pocock said.
The study finds that almost a third of full-time working women and even more full-time working mothers want to cut their hours.
"Such a high level of unmet demand for part-time work ... suggests that the Australian labour market is inflexible in responding to employee preferences," the report said.
People who regularly worked at night, or a combination of weekends and nights, fared poorly. Living in the country or being self-employed or a casual worker did not protect against being caught in a crushing time-bind.
Dr Pocock said Australia needed policies that reduced work hours and gave workers rights to refuse unreasonable hours, and to request changes in working hours.
Employers who provided flexible workplaceswould help to improve work-life satisfaction.
First published by TheAge.com.au on July 27 2008
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