‘I feel quite used’: Why are women’s working weeks getting longer?

As new research shows women's working weeks are getting longer, Olivia Petter speaks to those bearing the brunt of overtime hours

(Rex)

Lottie, 25, who works in PR, was thrilled when she was given a special project at work. “As a young person I saw it as an opportunity to prove myself and deliver,” she tells The Independent. But the reality was very different.

“On reflection I worked myself into the ground, going above and beyond for little reward. I stayed in the office until 9pm, working remotely on the weekends to churn out the work and get results. At the time, it made me feel like I was doing something important, that ‘mattered’, but now I look back and feel quite used – what was it all for?”

Lottie is one of the many women in the UK who is working longer than her allocated hours. According to new research from the Resolution Foundation, women now work an average 65 minutes more each week than they did in 2009. The report, entitled The Times they Aren’t A-changin’, is based on data from the Office of National Statistics’ Labour Force Survey and its Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

But case studies suggest that women are actually working much more than just an extra hour, particularly those in their mid-twenties, like Lottie, which is when women’s working weeks are at their longest, according to the new research.

“We know that women in general need to work twice as hard to get half as far,” Lottie says, explaining that she is expected to come into the office and leave later.

“My work-life balance is a struggle, and something I still need to learn to get a handle,” she adds. “But I still continue to come in early and leave late, even though it might be foolish.”

Entertainment writer Sukaina, 24, says overworking is simply expected in her role, which she says requires her to work 10 or more hours overtime, including on weekends.

“I think women and young people are all just chasing success trying to make it in whatever industry we are in,” she says. “Plus, there’s a part of us that believes that all the overworking and extra hours will pay off. It’s challenging but I try to say excited and motivated so it doesn’t feel like a chore.”

But when the rewards never come, Sukaina says you end up burning out “and losing joy in what you do”.

“Working late nights over and over again really took its toll on me,” she recalls. “I started to feel fatigued, a lack of energy and my mood was terribly low and I wasn’t getting enough sleep, which made me more irritable.”

But this is not just something impacting women in their twenties. Public relations executive Carrie explains she also works an average of 10 hours’ overtime a week.

“Women typically seem to have more roles to play in society, so seem to be lumbered with more to do, not less,” she says. “For me, the fact that women’s working weeks are getting longer comes down to women being conditioned to be people-pleasers by default.”

Young people, Carrie adds, are more likely to work longer hours because they are building their experience. ”So they may feel that by saying no to overtime they might compromise their promotion potential.”

The pressures can be exacerbated for those like Kelly, 41, who are self-employed. “For six years I was working on average over 40 hours per week in my full-time employed job in computer design, as well as working around two or three hours every evening and at weekends building up my own business as a sculptor before I became fully self-employed in 2015.”

Kelly thinks that while there may be more opportunities for women in the workplace now, we have a long way to go if we’re to see parity in the workplace in terms of working hours.

“Unfortunately, many women are still expected to fulfil the more traditional role of picking up the domestic workload. So if women want to raise a family, they will have to, at some point, take some time out of their career when they have children,” she explains.

“This results in having to put in extra time to catch up when they return to work if they want to maintain a certain level of career.”

According to recent research conducted by workplace management company Asana – which looked at the attitudes of 10,223 workers across six countries – the top three reasons for working overtime are having to respond to emails, chasing for approval from another colleague and unexpected meetings.

As for how to cope with the pressures of overworking, Carrie suggests practising meditation and blocking out chunks of time when you won’t be working and can simply relax, whether it’s at the weekend or during an afternoon, depending on your schedule.

“Whilst I am not yet perfect at this, I am getting at just switching off from work,” she says. “I do not want to burn out like I have in the past. Health is our wealth and without it we are stuck, aren’t we?”