§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average number of hours worked each week by British workers was in each of the last 20 years. [140482]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 27 November 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 30 November 2000:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question about the average number of hours worked each week by British workers in each of the last 20 years.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the main source of labour market data on individuals used by National Statistics. The table overleaf shows the average actual weekly hours worked, in the reference week in the United Kingdom from spring (March to May) 1979 to spring 2000.
Average actual weekly hours1 of work; spring (March to May) 1979–2000; United Kingdom Not seasonally adjusted All persons 1979 35.7 1981 32.3 1983 36.8 1984 33.4 1985 34.0 1986 36.8 1987 33.8 1988 34.6 1989 34.4 1990 36.9 1991 34.0 1992 32.9 1993 33.2 1994 33.4 1995 33.6 1996 33.5 1997 33.1 1998 33.0 1999 33.1 2000 32.9 1Average hours actually worked in the reference week. Total hours include overtime (paid and unpaid) and exclude lunchbreaks Source:
ONS—Labour Force Survey