Do Australian Men 'Work Harder' Than Women?

A survey by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's 'Better Life Index' has concluded that Australian men “work harder” than women.

The report, which is compiled annually by the United Nations, said that while Australia is one of the best places to live in the world based on categories including healthcare and education, it falls down heavily in the work/life balance sector.

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“The share of employees working more than 50 hours per week is not very large across OECD countries,” says the report. “In Australia, however, more than 14% of employees work very long hours, much more than the OECD average of 9%. Overall, men spend more hours in paid work: in Australia 21% of men work very long hours, compared with 6% of women.”

However, what the study doesn’t determine is what men are actually doing during those longer hours. Is this simply a case of women working faster and more efficiently at their jobs? Do men feel more pressure to put in the hours, even if they’re not actually doing much?

Or is this statistic reflective of the fact that women are "still playing second fiddle in the business world", with the 2012 Grant Thornton International Business Report showing that the female struggle to secure senior positions at work continues?

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According to the 2012 census, Australian women hold just 24% of senior management positions. This is better than the global average of 21%, but we still have a long way to go. And despite women working more than ever before, the Association of Super Funds predicts that by the year 2019, women will have half the retirement savings of men.

Regardless of the results of the survey, it seems impossible to conclude that men work harder than women just because they might work longer hours.

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