Too much work, too little time
The survey of 1,002 full-time employees aged 18 and above was conducted by telephone in November 2010 and the results were released in March 2011. Respondents were married, single, or divorced, Hong Kong residents holding administrative or professional positions, clerical jobs, or worker jobs. They were questioned on the total number of hours spent at work and at home in the past seven days.
According to the survey, not everyone was working long hours; 59.2 per cent of respondents worked 10 or fewer hours, 32.5 per cent worked between 10 and 13 hours, while 7.4 per cent worked 14 or more hours. Respondents holding administrative and professional jobs worked the longest hours, and respondents in the worker group worked the shortest," says Ms Lau Yuk-king, Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (HKIAPS) researcher, and assistant professor at the Department of Social Work of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Nevertheless, work pressure seemed to have gotten to them. Questions probing the impact of their work role on their family role revealed that work was dampening family time. A good 57.7 per cent of respondents said they came home from work too tired to do some of the things they would like to do. When asked whether work took up time they would like to spend with family, 50.5 per cent agreed.
The incidence of work conflicting with family was more serious for employees with low family incomes, than for those with high family incomes.
The former also felt it was less likely that a positive work role would smoothen their family role. Further studies are needed to determine the reasons for the difference, says Lau.
Women who were married or had children experienced more work-family conflicts than their male counterparts. Their mental health was also less satisfactory than that of their male counterparts, although their family roles remained similar to that of men.
Despite the increased participation of women in the labour force, they continue to sh