Long Hours and Income

The 2006 Census contains data on both personal and household income, and findings for both are presented.

PERSONAL INCOME AND HOURS WORKED

Figure 8 shows the proportion of workers in each hours category by personal income. The graph shows a trend that, as income increases, the proportion of employees working longer hours increases. For example, of those who had income in the $25,001–$30,000 bracket, less than 20% worked more than 50 hours, while more than half of those who had income over $100,000 worked these hours. Those who earn no income or carry a loss are also likely to work long hours, perhaps representing those who run their own businesses.

Figure 8: Hours worked per week by annual income, total workforce

Data Table for Figure 8

To avoid the data being skewed by employees who work very short hours, Figure 9 shows the same income data, but only includes those who work full-time (defined as 30 or more hours per week.) Focusing only on employees who are classed as full-time produces a more bell-curve shaped distribution in income and highlights that those who either run at a loss or earn no income (suggesting self-employment) and those on higher incomes are more likely to work long hours.

As well as considering the hours worked by workers in each income bracket, it is also valuable to consider the income of workers in each hours category. Figure 10 shows that those working long hours are more likely to have higher incomes. Similarly, when considering full-time workers, the relationship is a curve – between 30 and around 59 hours per week, income increases as hours worked increase.

Figure 9: Hours worked per week by annual income, full-time workers

Data Table for Figure 9

Figure 10: Income by hours worked each week, full-time workers

Data Table for Figure 10

However, as working hours rise to 60 or more per week, increases in working hours are associated with decreases in income. As such, while 47% of workers working 50–54 hours each week have annual incomes over $50,000, only 37% of workers working 75–79 hours each week and 31% of workers working 85 or more hours each week have incomes over this amount. A full 54% of those who report working the longest hours (85 or more each week) have incomes of $40,000 or less each year, and 65% have incomes of $50,000 or less each year. [3]

THE INCOME OF LONG HOURS WORKERS

Previous literature has suggested that those working long hours fall at each end of the income spectrum. A comparison of the working hours of those on low and high incomes suggests that high-income workers are more likely to be working long hours, with Figure 11 illustrating this.

Figure 11: A comparison of the working hours of those with incomes of $30,000 or less and above $100,000 per annum

Data Table for Figure 11

However, when all workers who are working long hours are considered, it is clear that a small majority of those working long hours are lower income. Figure 12 shows the income profile for all those working 50 or more hours a week. The graph shows that, when long hours workers are considered as a group, slightly more than half (55%) of those working 50 or more hours a week have incomes below $50,000 while the remaining 45% have incomes greater than this amount. However, of this 45%, almost half have incomes between $50,001 and $70,000, suggesting that, rather than a polarisation of hours between very high- and very low-income earners, long hours workers are divided into a relatively large number of low-income workers, and two almost even groups of middle ($50,001–$70,000 – 21%) and upper (over $70,000 – 24%) earning groups. Only 12% of those working long hours have incomes above $100,000 each year, while 38% have incomes of $40,000 or less, and 22% have incomes of $30,000 or less.

Figure 12: Personal income of those working 50 or more hours a week

Data Table for Figure 12

Again, this highlights the importance of considering the absolute numbers of workers in each category: because those with incomes under $30,000 are a significantly larger group than those with incomes over $100,000, the absolute numbers of long hours workers with low incomes are much greater than those with high incomes. More than 90,000 low-income workers work 50 or more hours each week, compared with just over 51,000 workers with incomes greater than $100,000.

While there are greater numbers of low-income long hours workers, those who work long hours are more likely to earn higher incomes than those working fewer hours. Figure 13 shows how the incomes of those working long hours compare with the income distribution for the total workforce. The graph illustrates that those working long hours are disproportionately higher-income: 23.68% of those working 50 or more hours each week have annual incomes above $70,000 while only 11.33% of the total workforce reports having this level of income. Similarly, 38.79% of those working long hours have incomes of $40,000 or less, compared with 59.94% of the total workforce.

Figure 13: Annual income, long hours workers and total workforce

Data Table for Figure 13

GENDER, HOURS AND INCOME

Figure 14 shows the relationship between men’s working hours and their personal income, and women’s working hours and their income. The graph shows that women are more likely to have lower incomes than men who work the same hours.

Figure 15 compares the incomes of men and women who work 50 or more hours each week and shows that men who are working long hours are more likely to earn higher incomes than women. A quarter (25.98%) of men working long hours have annual incomes above $70,000 each year, while 17.07% of women working 50 or more hours each week have incomes above this level.

Figure 14: Working hours, income and gender

Data Table for Figure 14

Figure 15: Long working hours and income, by gender

Data Table for Figure 15

WORKING HOURS AND HOUSEHOLD INCOME

The relationship between household income and individual working hours was similar to that of long hours and personal income, with long hours workers disproportionately reporting household incomes over $100,000 each year. Figure 16 compares the household incomes of those working 50 or more hours each week with the total workforce.

Figure 16: Household income, those working 50 or more hours per week and total workforce

Data Table for Figure 16

While those working 50 or more hours each week were more likely to have household incomes greater than $100,000, there was a peak in household income at 50–59 hours of work each week. As Table 1 shows, those reporting working 50–59 hours each week were more likely to report household incomes greater than $100,000 and less likely on average to report incomes lower than this than those who reported working fewer – and more – hours each week. Those who worked 60 or more hours each week were slightly less likely to report household incomes in the highest bracket than those in the 50–59 hours group, with the likelihood of income in the highest bracket decreasing as hours increased. For example, while 38.71% of those working 50–59 hours reported household incomes greater than $100,000, this level of income was reported by 35.97% of those working 60–69 hours each week, 32.91% of those working 70–79 hours per week, and only 30.5% of those who reported working 80 or more hours each week.