Who, when, where, how much, why? An analysis of working hours

At a time of significant demographic and technological change, the question of whether and how long people work has increasingly gained economic, political, and social relevance: How have working hours and working hour preferences of different socio-demographic groups evolved over time? How do contextual characteristics—particularly working time regulations—influence social inequalities and the reconciliation of work and private life? And how reliably can we measure working hours in the era of remote work, flexible schedules, and blurring boundaries between work and private life? This research project, funded by the Hans-Böckler Foundation, seeks to answer these and related questions and provide a solid foundation for public debates on working time flexibility, polarization, and precarity. We assess the reliability of various tools for recording working hours across different socio-demographic groups and address open questions regarding the evolution and variability of working hours through international comparisons and longitudinal analyses.