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Labour Force: Days lost in strikes at record low: The Government's statistical survey depicts prosperous and well-educated Britons deserting 'traditional' lifestyles. David Nicholson-Lord reports

David Nicholson-Lord
Thursday 27 January 1994 00:02 GMT
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ONLY HALF a million working days were lost through strikes in 1992 - the lowest figure since records began more than a century ago.

Social Trends also charts the growth of part-time working and the spread of women into the workforce. It suggests that, in the struggle to reconcile the conflicting allegiances of work, home and family, women are taking much of the strain.

By 1993 there were 11 million women with jobs and more than 13 million men. Almost half the women's jobs - but less than one in fifteen of the men's - were part-time. Last year nine out of ten women chose part-time in preference to full-time work; the figure for men was seven out of ten. One-third of single women of working age were economically inactive in 1993.

Among people with full- time jobs, men have 14 hours more free time than women: men spend more time working and travelling, but women do twice as much cooking, shopping and housework. Women working part-time still have five hours less free time than men. Only housewives do better, with five hours more free time than full-time husbands.

The average time viewing television in 1992 was nearly 27 hours a week, a slight increase on previous years. These ranged from 20 hours among social classes AB to 32 in social classes DE.

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