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Start with these files — they give you everything you need to understand and access the dataset.
- 1. Fetch datapackage.json to inspect schema and resources
- 2. Download data resources listed in datapackage.json
- 3. Read README.md for full context
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working-hours
Schema
| name | type | description |
|---|---|---|
| country | string | Country name |
| year | integer | Year of observation. Benchmark years: 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910, 1913, 1920, 1929, 1938, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000. |
| annual_working_hours | number | Average annual hours of work per worker |
| source | string | Data source: 'Huberman & Minns (2007)' for historical estimates, 'OECD' or 'ILO' for recent data |
Data Files
| File | Description | Size | Last modified | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|
working-hours | Annual hours of work per worker, 1870–2000, for 12 countries. One row per country per benchmark year. Benchmark years are approximately decadal: 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910, 1913, 1920, 1929, 1938, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000. | 8.04 kB | about 1 month ago | working-hours |
| Files | Size | Format | Created | Updated | License | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8.04 kB | csv | about 1 month ago | Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence | Huberman, M. and Minns, C. (2007). The times they are not changin': Days and hours of work in Old and New Worlds, 1870–2000. European Review of Economic History, 11(1), 45–74. |
Working Hours — Historical Time Series
Annual hours of work per worker across 12 countries, 1870–2000. Based on Huberman & Minns (2007).
Background
Huberman and Minns assembled comparable estimates of annual working hours per worker from national sources across twelve now-rich countries. The dataset spans 1870 to 2000 at roughly decadal benchmark years (plus 1913 and 1938), covering Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The headline story is stark: workers in 1870 typically put in between 2,600 and 3,800 hours per year — the equivalent of 50–73 hours every week with no holidays. By 2000, that figure had roughly halved to 1,340–1,840 hours. The decline was driven by shorter workdays, the spread of the two-day weekend, paid annual leave, and public holidays.
Data
data/working-hours.csv
One row per country per benchmark year (180 rows total). Columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
country | Country name |
year | Benchmark year (1870, 1880, …, 1990, 2000; also 1913 and 1938) |
annual_working_hours | Average annual hours worked per worker |
source | Data source (Huberman & Minns (2007)) |
Countries covered: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States
Year range: 1870–2000 (15 benchmark years per country)
Sources
- Huberman, M. and Minns, C. (2007). The times they are not changin': Days and hours of work in Old and New Worlds, 1870–2000. European Review of Economic History, 11(1), 45–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2006.07.002
Reproduce
python3 process.py
Generates data/working-hours.csv. The script first attempts to fetch updated data from OWID and OECD; if those sources are unavailable, it falls back to the embedded Huberman & Minns table.