Happiness and wellbeing are the flavour of the month. Everyone agrees that money can't buy you love or happiness, but there is an implication that a more leisurely and less harassed life with long holidays is part of the answer. A long-view look at the data suggests, however, that time off has risen dramatically without having the desired effect.
Since 1870, GDP per head has increased by almost 600 per cent in Britain and by 1,200 per cent in America. But average annual hours worked per employee in Britain have fallen by almost half. In 1870, the figure was estimated to have been some 3,000, and now it is in the range 1,500-1,700, depending upon which estimate we take. Assuming the average person sleeps eight hours a night, a total of 5,840 waking hours a year are available. So in 1870, a worker spent half his waking life at work. Now, it is only just over a quarter. When we take into account the number of years spent in education, the big increase in holiday entitlement (even in the 1950s, most people had only two weeks a year), the retirement age and life expectancy, the increase in non-working time is even more dramatic. In 1870, virtually everyone left school at the age of 12. Now, almost half of the age cohort does not leave the education system until 21 or 22. In 1870, almost everyone either worked until they died, or died shortly after retirement. Now, average life expectancy at age 65 is almost 20 years.
Interestingly, the data over this long period of time show very similar trends in both France and Germany. In Germany in 1870, for example, average annual hours worked are estimated to have been about 100 less than in Britain, and now they are some 100-200 less. America started off almost exactly equal to Britain, but even in this nation of alleged workaholics, average annual hours are only 100-150 more than they are here.
A victory for old age
Let's hear it for the golden oldies who contested the World Cup final. The average age of the French team was 30 years and two weeks, and the Italians 29 years and 7 months. And the teams were in each case made up of the older players from the total national squads, whose average ages were 29 years two months and 28 years nine months. The last winning squad with an average age of more than 28 was back in 1962 when Brazil won in Chile with a party with an average age of 30 years one month.
What about other sports? In 1962, track athletes over the age of 35 were hardly to be seen, but now their veteran "world records" are very close to the real records. In the seven main track events from 100 to 10,000 metres, the biggest percentage gap between the veteran and real record is just 6.0 per cent, in the men's 400 metres. The same distance has the biggest gap for women, at 5.6 per cent. Almost all the gaps are just 2-3 per cent, and in the women's 10,000 metres, the vets are a mere 1.1 per cent behind.
