Do we work too hard

...Sporty asked:
A. Yes - and that's official. New research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development discovered that Britain has an average working week of 43.6 hours, the longest in the EU. One-fifth of people are working more than 48 hours a week.

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Q. Who wants to work more than 48 hours a week
A. Mainly the self-employed, office managers and professionals.

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Q. Is this devotion to work a problem
A. Big time. It causes 'long-hour' workers to argue with their partners (40%), shout at their children (34%) and come home too tired to hold a conversation (70%). More than half said their sex lives were suffering: 14% had a lower libido or had lost their sex drive altogether in the last 12 months.

Q. So the partners of long-hours workers are unhappy about this, too, presumably
A. Er, not exactly. While they would prefer their partner to work less, it was generally considered that long hours were a price worth paying if it guaranteed a decent standard of living.

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Q. So are their children upset
A. Yes, 36% of partners report that their children have complained that they don't see enough of the parent who works long hours. And 27% of the partners complain that the long-hours parent doesn't usually see the children before bedtime, and doesn't have enough time to help with homework.

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Q. What do colleagues think about it
A. If not working long hours themselves, they might not be too thrilled to have a boss who works too much. More than a third of long-hours workers interviewed say that they have made mistakes in the last 12 months, ranging from fatigue-related mismanagement of people and projects to property damage and personal injury.

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Q. So what's in it for the long-hours worker
A. Apart from cash and kudos It's not clear. More than half of those interviewed for the survey felt that they have struck the wrong work/life balance and have dedicated too much time to work rather than their family life.

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By Sheena Miller