*************************************** "The lack of money is the root of all evil."
---Mark Twain
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,987105,00.html
Too tired for fun and sex
Given an extra hour in the day, most of us would rather sleep than make love. Jamie Doward examines a survey that shows we are having to work ever longer hours - and we don't like it
Sunday, June 29, 2003 The Observer
The revolution has been cancelled. The utopia promised by an army of futurologists - who predicted that new technology, changing work patterns and shifting demographics would provide us all with a massive increase in our leisure time - is today exposed as a myth.
A survey for The Observer by ICM Research reveals Britain to be a nation of burnt-out workers who would prefer more sleep to more sex and would gladly swap pay rises for a reduction in their working week. The ICM Observer Precious Time Poll found 42 per cent of us regularly work more than 48 hours a week - the national average and the longest time in the European Union.
Richard Reeves, of the Work Foundation, who has studied employees' working hours and written an analysis of the poll, says: 'Time has become one of the most contested and precious resources in our lives - more important, to many, than money. The demands of work, family and commuting combine to make us feel as if we are constantly trying to catch up with ourselves.'
In one year the average employee in London can expect to work 1,833 hours, compared with 1,587 in Paris and 1,666 in Berlin. However, there is a crumb of comfort for the frazzled UK employee: the hours he or she works are nothing compared with their Asian counterparts.
A survey by banking giant UBS shows the average employee in Hong Kong works 2,181 hours a year, a fraction ahead of their counterpart in Seoul, who works 2,073 hours, and just below the 2,192 hours grafted by a worker in Abu Dhabi.
The gap between Eastern and Western working hours could close if trends continue. The ICM survey found 51 per cent of those questioned say they are working longer hours than five years ago: 48 per cent of men say they are now working longer hours, compared with 57 per cent of women. Sociologists suggest this is because women are having to play 'catch up' with their male professional counterparts.
Given the increasing time pressures facing working women, it is unsurprising the majority feel too tired to enjoy their leisure time. The poll found 58 per cent of women (and 49 per cent of men) say the hours they work spoils enjoyment of their free time.
The survey of 1,113 UK adults in full-time employment suggests we have more than a sneaking admiration for former Health Secretary Alan Milburn who resigned to fulfill the ultimate political cliche of spending more time with his family. One of the key findings is that more than a third of us (35 per cent) say our work hours prevent us from fulfilling our family lives. Half say time pressures due to work have led to losing touch with friends.
Relations with our significant others have also taken a beating. More than 40 per cent of us believe we had more time for sex five years ago than we do now.
It seems we are so exhausted these days sex will always come second to sleep. Given an extra hour in bed, 52 per cent would choose sleep over sex; 38 per cent of men opted for sleep, compared with 67 per cent of women. Almost half, 45 per cent, would like more sleep but felt there wasn't the time.
Given the time squeeze they face, UK workers often feel obliged to cut back on holidays and lunch hours. Almost two-thirds say they rarely manage a full hour's lunch break, while nearly a third say they don't take their full holiday entitlement each year.
Throughout much of the twentieth century the hours worked fell. Legislation and improvements in productivity saw the number of hours worked drop from 54 at the start of the century to 44 in the 1950s - where it remained for the next 30 years. But the dawn of Thatcherism heralded a new era. Perhaps spurred on by the example of a woman who famously slept for only four hours a night, employees started working longer hours with the related rise in heart attacks and ulcers.
While the stock market surged and pay packets swelled, workers were ready to put noses to the grindstone. But, increasingly, the equation 'time is money' is being deconstructed as longer hours fail to translate into fatter salaries. Three-quarters would rather work a four-day week on present pay than continue with a five-day week and a 20 per cent pay rise.
Reeves cites Prof Jonathan Gershuny, an expert on time issues, who suggests:'1980 marks the point at which the downward trend of the last century finally reversed, and in future the trend will continue upwards.'
===== ***************************************************************** "My sister, your grain - its beer is tasty, my comfort.." - Song of Songs; Sumeria, 2100 B.C.
As to the power of Egyptian brews Aristotle observed:
"They who have drunk beer...fall on their back...for they who get drunk on other intoxicating liquors fall on all parts of their body...it is only those who get drunk on beer who fall on their backs and lie with their faces upwards."
"She brews good ale, and thereof comes the proverb, Blessing of your heart, you brew good ale."
- Shakespeare
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