Background

In August 2003, the Government established the Work-Life Balance Project, to develop policies and practices aimed at promoting a better balance between paid work and other aspects of life. Research conducted as part of this project highlighted the issue of long working hours, both in terms of the high proportions of New Zealanders working more than 50 hours per week and the significant numbers of employees who indicated that they would prefer to work fewer hours (Department of Labour, 2006). These findings are supported by the Families Commission’s Focus on Families Project (2005), as well as research from other agencies, such as the Ministry of Social Development’s Work, Family and Parenting Study (2006) and the work of independent researchers, including Callister (2004 and 2005).

Much of the previous analysis related to long working hours in New Zealand has focused on whether there have been changes to working hours, and whether the proportion of employees working more than 50 hours per week is increasing. Complicating these analyses are differences in the way long hours data is collected and variations in the variables included when long hours “averages” are considered. Less work has been done to compile an overall profile of the workers who work long hours, and within those analyses, seemingly disparate conclusions are commonly drawn.

This paper attempts to compile a comprehensive picture of those who work the longest hours in New Zealand, using data from the 2006 Census.

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