Issues

in Labor Statistics U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics

How long is the workweek?

Summary 97-2

February 1997

Efforts to shorten the work

week were top labor issues in

the first four decades of this

century and resulted in the Fair

Labor Standards Act of 1938. In the

1990s, time spent at work is still a

key factor in determining the quality

of jobs and one’s standard of living.

At one extreme, those in managerial

and professional jobs who have been

spared from the impact of corporate

restructuring are perceived as having

to work longer workweeks to protect

their own positions. On the other

end of the market, many newly

created jobs have been stereotyped as

low wage, part-time, poor-quality

jobs.

This report examines trends in

weekly working hours between 1976

and 1993 using data from the

Current Population Survey (CPS), a

representative national sample of

households.1

 The data suggest that

the average length of the workweek

has risen only slightly since the mid1970s; more important has been a

change in the distribution of work

hours. In this respect, the most

noteworthy differences are an

increase in the share of persons who

are working very long workweeks—

49 hours or more—and a decline in

the share working 40 hours a week.

A companion piece examines annual

work hours and will be released at

the same time as this report.

Average hours at work increase

only 1 hour for men and 2 hours for

women from 1976 to 1993. Part of

these increases can be attributed to a

changing age profile of the American workforce (see table). By 1993,

baby-boomers—those born between

1946 and 1964—all had moved into

the central working ages of 25 to 54.

Meanwhile, younger and older

workers comprised a declining share

of employment. Workweeks typically are longer for workers age 25

to 54, and part-time employment is

more common among younger and

older workers.

To gauge the effect of the shifting

age distribution on the change in

workweeks, average hours in 1993

were calculated as if the age distribution of those at work had remained unchanged since 1976. As

the tabulation below shows, after

removing the effect of age, the

1

 Data from 1994 onward are not stricly comparable to those from prior years because of a redesign of the CPS.

0

10

20

30

40

50 1976

1985

1989

1993

Distribution of hours at work of nonagricultural wage and

salary workers, annual averages, selected years, 1976-93

1 to 34

hours

35 to 39

hours 40 hours 41 to 48hours

49 hours

or more

Percent

workweek for men was virtually

unchanged and women’s weekly

hours rose by only a single hour.

Average Age-adjusted

hours hours

1976 1993 1993

Men, 16 years

 and older 41.0 42.0 41.2

Women, 16 years

 and older 34.0 36.0 35.0

The small changes in the length

of the workweek, adjusted or

unadjusted, reflect offsetting

increases and decreases in the hoursat-work distribution. Between 1976

and 1993, the proportion of nonfarm

wage and salary workers who

reported that they were at work

exactly 40 hours per week declined,

while the share working 49 hours or

more rose. The proportions working

1976

1985

1989

1993

50

30

20

10

0

40

50

U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Total at work Average hours

Characteristics

Official Business

Penalty for Private use, $300

U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Washington, DC 20212

FIRST CLASS MAIL

Postage and Fees Paid

U.S. Department of Labor

Permit No. G-738

fewer than 40 hours and 41-48 hours

remained fairly stable. (See chart.)

The growth in the share of

workers reporting very long workweeks is not infrequently attributed

to a shift in employment towards

high-hour occupations such as

managers, professionals, and certain

sales workers. A detailed analysis of

the growth in the number of persons

working 49 hours or more from 1985

to 1993 shows that only 8.1 percent

Employment and Unemployment

Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics,

Washington, DC 20212. Tel: (202)-

606-6378. Information in this report

is available to sensory impaired

individuals on request. Voice phone:

(202) 606-7828; TDD phone: (202)

606-5897; TDD message referral

phone: 1-800-326-2577. This

material is in the public domain and,

with appropriate credit, may be

reproduced without permission.

of the increase was produced by

changes in the occupational mix.

The rest was evenly divided between

the impact of overall employment

growth during the period and the

rise in the share of long workweeks

in every major occupational group.

For additional information on

hours at work and a technical

description of the Current Population Survey, contact Randy E. Ilg or

Jennifer M. Gardner, Office of

Percent distribution of nonagricultural wage and salary workers at work and their average weekly hours by age and sex, annual

averages, 1976 and 1993

1976 1993 1976 1993

Total (thousands) .................................................................................. 73,276 102,615 38.1 39.2

 16 to 24 years .................................................................................. 24.0 16.7 33.6 32.5

 25 to 54 years .................................................................................. 62.2 72.6 40.1 41.1

 55 years and over ............................................................................ 13.8 10.7 37.2 36.8

 Men (thousands) ............................................................................. 42,994 54,573 41.0 42.0

 16 to 24 years .............................................................................. 21.8 16.2 35.4 34.2

 25 to 54 years ............................................................................. 64.3 73.1 43.1 44.1

 55 years and over ....................................................................... 14.0 10.7 39.7 39.6

 Women (thousands) ........................................................................ 30,282 48,042 34.0 36.0

 16 to 24 years ............................................................................. 27.1 17.2 31.5 30.7

 25 to 54 years ............................................................................. 59.2 72.1 35.3 37.7

 55 years and over ....................................................................... 13.6 10.7 33.4 33.6