One in three happy to cut pay and hours

One in three workers would prefer to earn less and work shorter hours, a new report published today claims.

Research conducted by Essex University's Institute for Social and Economic Research finds that over 33 per cent of employees would now like more free time - even if it meant a cut in their take-home pay.

The survey also found that women are keener than cutting their hours than their male counterparts. Just one in 10 workers would like to extend their hours, the survey found.

Many workers, however, do have some flexibility in the number of hours they work, says the report's author Dr Mark Taylor.

"Although a large proportion of employees in Britain work more hours than they wish, there does appear to be some flexibility that allows hours to be adjusted The costs of changing jobs mean that some people persistently work more hours than they would prefer," said Dr Taylor.