The line graph and table illustrate how many hours of working and paid holidays employees had from 1998 to 2004. Overall, there was an increase in the number of employees working from 16-31 hours and 32-45 hours, with the former witnessing the most dramatic rise, while the figure for over-45 working hour group fluctuated. In addition,the 16-31 working hours group was generally the highest figure while that of over 45 working hours was the lowest throughout the period. Looking at the table, the number of paid holidays increased gradually, reaching its peak in 2003 and 2004.
The number of employees who worked 16-31 hours per week started at 10 million, at which it experienced a significant rise to 12 million in 2004. The figure for 32-45 working hours group was at 10,5 million in 1998, followed by a decline to approximately 10,25 million in 2000, before ending at about 11,4 million. Opposite changes can be seen in the figure for over 45 working hours group, which fluctuated around 9.5 million and 9 million, and finally ended at 9 million.
The number of paid holidays was 25 in 1998, which increased slightly to 30 days in 2001. After remaining unchanged in the next 1 year, this figure grew up to 32 days in 2003 and stayed in the same until the end of the period. In general, over the course of 7 years, the number of time off with pay rose by 7 days.