§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average length of the working week for those in full-time employment in the United Kingdom and in the other countries of the European Union.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythEstimates from the spring 1993 Labour Force Survey for the United Kingdom show that the average usual total weekly hours worked by full-time employees in their main job was 43.5 hours.
Most recent international comparisons of average hours worked relate to LFS results for spring 1991 and are published by EUROSTAT. These estimates are given in the table:
Employees working Full-time Average hours usually worked per week United Kingdom 43.4 Portugal 41.5 Spain 40.5 Ireland 40.4 Greece 40.3 FR Germany 39.8 Luxembourg 39.8 France 39.7 Netherlands 38.9 Italy 38.7 Denmark 38.4 Belgium 38.0 EU 12 average 40.3 Source: EUROSTAT Labour Force Survey results 1991.