Honestly didnt expect Germany to sit at 34, lower than Poland, Spain and most of the South.
Worth keeping in mind the numbeers mix full and part time workers, so part time heavy economies like the Nethierlands and Germany come out looking lower than they feel.
Posted by Hopeful-Raise-4112
34 Comments
r/PORTUGALCYKABLYAT
This is because of the number of people in part time work. For example in Germany there is the so-called ‘mini-job’ so unemployed people can do a small part-time job and still receive the the difference in unemployment benefits.
In the Netherlands, the average is pulled down by women working less than men. Child care is often more expensive than working less than 40 hours.
Hi from Germany
It mostly just comes because a gigant wave of part-time employment. Otherwise it would be 40,2 hours per average
Does this also incluide pleople not “working” but instead being a stay at home parent? This may be different betwee cultures.
Why no data for the UK?
It seems like the less you work, the more rich is the country 🤔
Weird how it doesn’t show the UK but does show other European countries not in the EU.
Why is the UK missing, but Norway and Iceland are there
It’s about efficiency. Being in the U.S., a 50 hour week is less productive for most workers than a 35 hour week of a well compensated and relaxed worker
Is there a reason that the UK is excluded? Turkey is included, so it’s not an EU only map.
36 in Britain according to the ONS. Why Britain still isn’t in Eurostat, they have less of an answer for.
The Netherlands being at 32 hours really highlights how much the part-time work culture is baked into their system compared to the rest of the continent.
No it doesnt, i do, 0 hours
Well I’m from the Netherlands.
At sea I do 66 hr workweeks 🙂
How is Switzerland 36 when all my contracts and the people I know have 42.5 hours ?
I would love to see those statistics regarding only full-time jobs
in my country it is illegal to have a contract that ask more than 40 hours… at least you are self employed and in that case you just dont live
And in the US most people u know are at 60 and still poor
Norway has 37,5 hours
In Germany we have a right of part-time working. At the moment I work 80% and my wife 100%, a year ago we worked reverse. We have two small children.
And also in the current economy situation many unions and companies prefer to sent employees to part-time or don’t allow over-time.
Two part time jobs are more than one full time job. The numbers in the map say nothing without comparison of the employment rate.
But Germany is no working-class heaven. The Eierlecker and his government do everything, that working makes no sense in the country.
Greece being 40 should be in many air-quotes. As that might be the official one but a ton of people work much more unreported & unpaid overtime in reality.
(Is that illegal & exploitative? Yes. Is anyone doing anything about it? lol no Certainly not the government & their corporate friends)
Eastern Europe must be richer than Western Europe since they work more
I would’ve liked to see median instead of average
I’m the case of actual hours worked by full-time employees in Ireland for the 2025 period, men worked an average of 39.9 and women worked an average of 35.9.
When it comes to part-time hours, men come in at 19.9 while women came in at 19.1.
[Eurostat Data for 2025](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Actual_and_usual_hours_of_work)
*laugs as a Dutch chef living in the Netherlands*
(And I also cry)
Slovak here.
Most jobs here are 37.5h (with unpaid breaks) and a few that are 40h (with paid breaks).
There are also outliers with 10h, 11h and 12h shifts, but those also fit nicely into the 36-40h workweek (when averaged per month).
So 38h feels reasonable.
Standard working week in Switzerland is 42 hours and for doctors it‘s 50…
Netherlands here:
It is mostly people near retirement who work 3-4 days a week because we have some pre retirement schemes subsidized by government if I understand correctly. Retirement age is currently 67 btw so pretty high. Furthermore people under 30 generally cant affort to work part time and couples who just had a child are often forced to have either partner (usually the woman) work ± 2 days from home, 1 office and the other 2 home 2 office to be able to take care of the kid as it is too expensive to pay for daycare. Outside of those two groups I honestly dont know many actually employed people here who dont do 40 hours.
I know we have pretty short workweeks on average and have aimed for a 4-day week at my last interview and honestly, it feels like most employers dont even consider the option unless you absolutely need it or are near retirement.
I don’t know but I am sure we work full 40 hours in Czechia
Just because a country isn’t in the EU doesn’t mean it’s not part of Europe. Europe is a continent, not a political organization.
No clue where it comes from but for Belgium it should be 38
This is total BS for Spain. Maybe reported hours but unpaid overtime is just expected in a huge number of jobs.
Bullshit numbers, counts part time employees as FTE. Real numbers are higher