It has become increasingly common to argue that we work too much these days, and that the amount of work we have to put in makes us burned out or even sends us to an early grave. Neil Young may be right when he sings: “It's better to burn out, than to fade away” (Young 1979). I guess that most of us would prefer not to do either, and rather live a full life without burning the candle at both ends. Does work send us to an early grave? Do we even work all that much? Contrary to popular claims, we actually work less than ever before, and the work we do is even beneficial for our physical and mental health.

Compared to working hours 200 years ago, or even just 50 years ago, most of us work “part-time” today. People working in top-and middle-management – executives, lawyers, and so on – put in significantly more hours at work than the average worker, but generally also many fewer hours than the typical worker a century or two ago. Let us start with a really grim picture. The British Factory Act of 1833 aimed to reduce the working hours for adults and children in the textile industry. For those older than thirteen it stipulated a twelve-hour working day between the hours of 5.30am and 8.30 pm, whereas children aged nine to thirteen were to work a nine-hour day. Of course, this sounds insane today, but factory owners even broke that law, forcing both adults and children to work longer hours.