Killer Stats

Work Life Balance

•  25% of the population will downshift, take a voluntary pay cut by changing career, reduce working hours in exchange for better work life balance (Australian Institute)

• 88% of the population are not truly satisfied with the work they're doing. (Mike Creagan, Research paper, Australian Career Counselors Conference)

•  85% feel their workplace is stressful. (Drake Business Review, 1999)

•  84% of women feel they do too much work. (SMH, 1999)

•  42% of people feel life is a treadmill and they can't get off. (Stephen Covey, 1997 study)

•  Generation X and Y will be in increasingly strong demand in the workforce (Source: DBM) but these segments are also increasingly after work life balance

•  66% of the population say they can't wait to quit their jobs. (Morgan & Banks, 1999)

•  75% of Australians want to spend more time with their families. (Australian Institute Study, 1999)

•  After domestic duties and work, only 11% of our time is available for leisure. (ABS, 1998)

•  Antidepressant use has jumped by 58% in the last 4 years. (SMH, 1999)

•  42% of people can't help themselves and read their work emails while on holidays.
  

•  80% of Australians believe it's becoming more difficult to get work life balance.(Relationships Australia)

•  72% of the population felt it was becoming much more difficult to make the decision to start a family. (Relationships Australia)

•  The most significant negative factor in starting a family was sighted as lack of time to spend together. (Relationships Australia)

•  10% of Britons believe they would be better off dead

•  20% worry about becoming seriously mentally ill

•  25% saw no hope for the future

•  10% felt fate had dealt humanity a miserable life which they were powerless to alter

•  25% were unhappy in their jobs

•  33% felt exhausted, unappreciated or underpaid

•   25% were dissatisfied with their sex lives

• 10% of men were emotionally, verbally or physically abused by their wives or girlfriends (6% for women) (Source: A medical website survey, published in the Age, 2000).

Compared to 1996:

•   40% of people are working longer hours

•   38% worked more than 50 hrs/week

•   52% are having less sex

•   50 % suffer insomnia symptoms twice a week

•   40% are spending less time asleep

•  33% often wake up during the night

•   60% do not get the recommended 8 hrs sleep

•   31% sleep less than 7 hrs a night

•   22% are so tired it interferes with daily activities twice a week (Source: US National Sleep Foundation survey, published in the Courier Mail, 2001)

•  To save time, 25% of people will cut back on leisure activities, 19% on family and friends, 17% on sleep, and 16% on sex. (Source: US National Sleep Foundation survey, published in the Courier Mail, 2001)

•  32% of Australian high income earners (annual household income > $50,000) are dissatisfied with their level of stress at work

•  30% dissatisfied with their salary levels

•  26% unhappy with hours of work

•  24% unhappy with their future prospects in their current job

•  66% are dissatisfied with some aspect of their career

•  36% of these people do not plan o do anything about it (Source: Study commissioned by Executive and Professional Register (EPR) and conducted by Newspoll, published in Business NSW, 2000)