The data suggests that Germany works less hours than Spain. The reality of your labor market tells another story

The reduction of working hours and how to face it is an issue on the debate table in a good part of the world. In Spain, the reduction of working hours is in Parliamentary Processing Phase and it is expected that at the end of the year a working day of 37.5 hours per week will be carried out. Countries like Germany, United Kingdom or Portugal have performed pilot tests of the four -day work week to evaluate The effect of that reduction.

However, why is the reduction of working on if, according to 2023 data of Eurostat, in Spain the Real workday Average is already 36.4 hours a week, while in Germany is 34 hours a week? The key after that figure is in the quality of the employment of each country and reveals that, even if it may seem, a worker in Germany does not work less hours than in Spain.

The middle days. In response to Eurostat data, indeed, the days in Germany seem to be shorter than in Spain, with 36.4 hours a week in front of the 34 hours of Germany. However, if we segment that data by type of day, the expected thing would be for working hours to maintain the same proportion. Nothing is further from reality.

By differentiating the Eurostat data Between full time and part -time day we find that the average number of usual weekly hours in the main employment in full -time is 40.2 hours a week in both Spain and Germany.

Something similar happens when differentiating the part -time Where Spain leaves an average of 20.3 hours a week, while on average part -time workers in Germany do 21.8 hours. So, if the days of Spain and Germany are not so different, why is there such a remarkable difference in the average? The key is in the quality of the labor market.

Precariousness. According to him Press report Prepared by an expert council appointed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy in 2022, 42% of workers in Spain suffer some kind of precariousness (Submployment, temporary contracts, low wages, etc.). Despite that, after the 2022 labor reform, it changed The contract model expanding the use of the contract full -time indefinite.

According to the 2023 INE data13.3% of the workforce in Spain worked part -time. That is, the data indicate That in that year, 15,454,000 employees worked full -time, while 2,580,900 did it part -time in Spain.

Instead, the German labor market is much more fragmented in that aspect. In 2023, 31% of this country’s workers worked part -time, According to data of the Federal Statistics Office. This difference in full -time employment and part -time contracts makes a big difference in the calculation of the final average of weekly hours worked, since both variables are taken into account.

Active retirement. To this is added the enormous success in Germany of the model of “Minijobs“, in which workers complement studies or retirement with part -time jobs for a few hours a week. official dataaround 13% of retirees between 65 and 74 years in Germany, they continue working, either out of economic necessity or by personal choice.

On the other hand, in Spain that percentage drops to 4.08% of the retirees who choose to continue working with some or none modification in your workday.

Average working life in Europe. Source: Eurostat

That makes, according to Eurostat dataGermany’s working life is 39.6 years, while in Spain it is 36.3 years on average. That is, a good part of German workers work less hours a week in part -time jobs, but they do it for more years than Spanish workers.

In Xataka | Some researchers have analyzed the working day in Spain: the same thing that 40 years ago is worked, but in worse jobs

Image | Eurostat