§ 26. Mr. Shepherdasked the Minister of Labour what numbers of the insured population work five days and five and a half days a week respectively, giving separate figures in respect of industrial and clerical workers.
§ Mr. IsaacsI regret that statistics are not available. A normal working week of five days is now prevalent in the great majority of manufacturing industries, and in these industries work on Saturday is in the main limited to the smaller factories in trades such as baking, boot repairing, motor vehicle repairing, which provide direct services to the public. In some other industries and services, such as agriculture, building, transport, gas supply, catering, banks, local government, and the non-industrial Civil Service, the normal working week generally extends over more than five days.
§ Mr. ShepherdWill the right hon. Gentleman try to publicise the fact that we in this country are working longer hours than some people, including those in the United States, give us credit for, and that we have dropped only one hour since the war?
§ Mr. IsaacsI am very glad to hear that supplementary question from the hon. Gentleman. It shows that, in spite of the fact that we have a five-day week, most employers find they get a better result out of a five-day week than out of a five-and-a-half day week.