The bar chart illustrates the average number of hours per day that five distinct age groups spend on paid and unpaid work. The data covers individuals from 16 to over 55.
Overall, it is evident that as people age, the time they spend on paid work decreases, while the hours they dedicate to unpaid work generally rise. The age groups in the middle of the range, from 25 to 44, spend the most time on a combination of both types of work.
The age group with the highest number of paid work hours is the 25-34 category, who spend an average of 8 hours a day in financially compensated employment. This is followed by the 16-24 age group, who work for 7 hours a day. After the age of 34, there is a consistent decline in paid work hours, with the 55+ age group spending the least amount of time on this type of work, at approximately 4 hours per day.
In contrast, the number of hours spent on unpaid work shows the opposite trend. The youngest group (16-24) records the lowest figure at just 2 hours a day. The amount of time spent on unpaid tasks increases with age, reaching a peak of around 5 hours a day for the 55+ age group. This makes unpaid work the most time-consuming activity for the oldest demographic surveyed.