Is this an accurate statement? "Since the 20th century, the amount of hours that the average person works have halved, despite wages and productivity increasing."

by HowManyCaptains

I was forwarded an email full of "numbers to chew on" by an exec in the company I work for. This was one of the facts. I thought the general consensus was that modern society is overworked compared to previous centuries?

CopperRoyce

Source: Huberman & Minns (2007) – The times they are not changin’: Days and hours of work in Old and New Worlds, 1870–2000. Explorations in Economic History, 44(4):538–567.

http://ourworldindata.org/data/economic-development-work-standard-of-living/working-hours/

this suggests yes. but what does that mean? How does this impact the rising number of women in the workplace (especially since more part time or less demanding jobs would drag the average down) but on the other hand technology really has increased productivity.

modern society is overworked compared to previous centuries?

i'm not sure there actually is a conflict if you consider modern society often means industrial society.