Over a century after the eight-hour workday became mainstream, new figures show it remains embedded in New Zealand culture. But for those whining, eight hours is too long, there is good news with data showing a shift in the country towards less work and more play.
Figures released on Friday by Stats NZ found while the majority of Kiwi workers (37.9 percent) still worked eight hours a day, five days a week during the June quarter, the number of New Zealanders working less was closely behind at 36.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the number of people working longer than 40 hours a week has been steadily trending down, with 25.5 percent in the June quarter compared to 27.2 percent in the previous quarter.
The eight-hour workday can be dated back to the 1500s in Spain, however, it didn't rise in notability until centuries later.
The Wellington carpenter Samuel Parnell is generally credited with being the first person in New Zealand to bring about the 8-hour working day in 1840. He reportedly told a prospective employer:
"There are twenty-four hours per day given us; eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation."
Parnell went on to encourage other tradesmen to adopt his approach and in 1890, New Zealand celebrated the first official labour demonstration day, which became a nationwide holiday in 1900 after Parliament passed the Labour Day Act 1899.
Fast forward to the present day, the country is about to celebrate its 123rd Labour Day and the eight-hour working week has continued to stick around.
Stats NZ's Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) asked employed respondents about the hours they usually worked per week, along with which days and hours were actually worked the previous week.
Of the 1,934,000 employed people who reported working their usual hours, 679,400 reported working a 40-hour week spread over five days, which was the most common work arrangement reported in the June 2023 quarter.
The next most popular work arrangement was a 45-hour week, or nine-hour workdays, followed by a 50-hour week, or 10-hour workdays and then 30-hour weeks, or six-hour workdays.
The 40-hour work week has remained a common work arrangement since the HLFS began collecting data on hours worked in 1986.
"Usual weekly hours are very much shaped by the proportion of men and women employed and changes in how men and women are employed over time," labour market manager Malak Shafik said.
The rates of people working less than 40 hours per week increased up to the early 2000s. This was partially driven by more women entering the workforce, who are more likely than men to work less than 40 hours a week.
However, in recent decades, the proportion of both men and women working exactly 40 hours in a usual week has been increasing.
"Since the June 2000 quarter, the proportion of men working more than 40 hours per week fell from 48 percent to 35 percent, and the proportion of women working less than 40 hours fell from 56 percent to 52 percent," Shafik said.
Stats NZ found employees usually worked an average of 37 hours per week at their main job in the June 2023 quarter – fewer than employers, who reported working 44 hours per week, but more than self-employed people without employees and unpaid family workers (34 and 19 hours per week respectively).
