In OECD, Turks work longest hours, are least happy

11:09, 8 May 2014

ISTANBUL. KAZINFORM Turks spend the longest hours at work among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the country is the world's least happy industrialized nation, according to the latest quality of life survey by the organization.

The OECD released its Better Life Index on Wednesday, revealing that Turkey was at the bottom of the ranking on 36 industrialized countries in terms of life satisfaction. The major factor that the leading international organization cited for Turkey being the least happy OECD member was that the country fared poorly in work-life balance indices. Accordingly, the amount of time a Turkish person spends at work is 1,855 hours a year -- almost 100 hours more than the OECD average of 1,765 hours. In Turkey, the OECD said, 43 percent of employees work very long hours. It has by far the highest percentage of people who work very long hours in the OECD, where the average is 9 percent. Long working hours in the country remain a decade-old problem, also bringing such troubles as work-related accidents along with it, Today's Zaman reports.

Forty-seven percent of men and 33 percent of women work very long hours, the OECD added. Another critical factor related to work-life balance is salary. Turks earn much less than the OECD average per year, the OECD finds. In Turkey, people earn $17,460 per year on average while the OECD average is $41,010. "Not everyone earns that amount, however," the OECD report said, adding that the top 20 percent of the Turkish population earn an estimated $23,035 per year while the bottom 20 percent live on an estimated $7,334 per year, revealing how poorly Turkey performed in distribution of wealth.

As the OECD highlighted in its report, long work hours may impair personal health and jeopardize work safety, and this actually appears to be the case in Turkey. In the first three months of 2014, a total of 276 workers died in work-related accidents in the country according to a recent report on job safety by a local union.

Another essential factor of employment quality is job security, the OECD added, noting that Turkish workers face a 7.8 percent chance of losing their job, much higher than the OECD average of 5.3 percent. The organization said relatively few workers benefit from social security in Turkey.

The OECD found that in Turkey, the average household income per capita is lower than the OECD average of $23,938 a year. In terms of employment, 49 percent of people ages 15 to 64 in Turkey have a paid job, less than the OECD employment average of 65 percent, it added.

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