Working Time and Workers' Preferences in Industrialized Countries: Finding the Balance

The gradual reduction in weekly working hours in the first half of the last century, which culminated in the widespread adoption of the 'standard' working week by the 1960s, was grounded in a concern for health and safety and for the preservation of time outside of paid labour.

Over the last few decades, however, this progressive standardization of working time has given way to a diversification and individualization in working hours as employers have responded to the competitive pressures o...