If this article is correct, then the Australian worker is working longer hours for less money. But Australia’s trade deficit never seems to decrease, which also means that we are working at the wrong jobs.

So we are working longer hours at the wrong jobs for less money. I wonder if the government realises this, and I wonder who does benefit.

Calls for tex deductable holidays and paid maternity leave are a waste of the authors time - sadly.
We are now in an environment committed to the freedom of the individual - those freedoms are dressed up to appear as appealing as possible to aspiring Australians - and that is what most Australians will be left as - mere aspirants.
And as with all communities hell bent on acquisition for its own sake most will miss out. That's how people get who have a lot get a lot - by keeping it to themselves. There's only so much "stuff" to go around. And those that have it are simply going to work out ways to keep what they've got and then get some more. That's the true genensis of the IR reforms. Not enhanced flexibility or benefits gleaned from an illusory "freedom to choose".
It is not the socialists or social democrats or communist that promote a utopia - it is the free marketeers who well know the dream of a better life will keep most people in their place - exploitable, flexible and compliant - in the hope of getting a few more scraps from the masters table.

It is up to individuals to find the balance between work and family. If people think a big flat screen TV is worth more to their kids then quality time they will work longer hours.
It is not a new tension. Look at Lachlan Murdoch who says the only thing he remembers about his dad was him reading the newspaper at breakfast. Some things have to be sacrificed and people are very reluctant to sacrifice things these days. They want their cake (money) and time to eat it too with their family.
I have worked at a place before which let me sacrifice money for soem extra time off so I could spend time with the family during the birth of a new child. I made the choice and realised i would lose money but gain time.
Hopefully when the new IR changes come through other people will be able to have this choice as well.
Unfortunately people think they are entitled to everything these days without having to give up anything - time or money.

t.u.s

Timkins says that “If this article is correct, then the Australian worker is working longer hours for less money.”

Timkins, the article is not correct, as an objective search of the ABS data would show. For your information (and Christian’s):
Average weekly hours worked by Australian employees are at an all-time low.

Even discounting the growing proportion of employees who work part time, average weekly hours worked by full-time employees have been fairly flat for more than a decade.

Christian says people “have been forced to enter the workforce as part-time and casual workers”. Most part-timers have not been forced to work these hours, they choose to. About three quarters of part-time workers say they do not want longer hours; only 7 per cent are actively seeking full-time work (ABS Cat. 6105.0, June 2005, p.66).

In general, weekly hours have become more dispersed, with fewer people working the “standard” 38-hour week. So while it is true that a greater proportion of employees are working longer than standard hours, and even greater proportion is working shorter than standard hours.

The great majority of people working all types of working patterns – short, standard or comparatively long hours - report being happy with their hours of work. Of those that are not, a much greater proportion want longer than shorter hours.

The occupational groups most likely to report working long hours are managers and professionals - not usually seen as fronline victims of labour market reforms.

Christian says that “It is very likely that in the future Australian workers will be working even longer hours and for less pay”. Rubbish. As he conceded earlier in his piece, labour market reforms underpinned the improvements in productivity that allowed real wages to rise in the 1990s.

People may on average choose to work longer hours in a deregulated future (though personally I doubt it), but I’d cheerfully lay a substantial bet that real (after inflation) average earnings will increase if the labour market is further deregulated.

Somewhere, I have a very nice comment from J.K. Galbraith about this idea of individual worker negotiations with their employer [ wish I had the exact words but I don't have the time to re-read all his books to find it ] Written in the 50's or 60's, he talks about the then current idea that an individual worker can negotiate on equal terms with a large company employer, his final comment is to the effect that it takes years of training in economics before one can believe that this is possible.

Rhian,
There does seem to be some conflicting data on Australian work hours. Some figures suggest that our work hours are the longest in the world, other figures suggest our work hours are medium type hours.

The HILDA survey looked at work hours for different types of families. In the most common family where there were 2 working parents with dependant children, the father worked on average 48Hrs per week, and the mother worked 28 hrs per week (Table 5
http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/hilda/conf/conf2003/pdffiles/RDrago.pdf

There are 2 very important issues from this so far as families go:-
1 The fathers were expected to be the primary breadwinners (because when the mothers were asked what were their “preferred” work hours they reported 26 hrs, not 48 also)
2 An average type family with dependant children requires 2 incomes, as one income would require about 11 hrs of work per day, 7 days a week. This becomes crucial if our society keeps increasing the number of single parent families,(which it is).

The other factor is the trade deficit, as we are producing goods and services that are not being economically sold on the international market place. Australia is running at a perpetual loss. No shop can run at a loss forever, and Australia cannot run at a loss forever either.

So ultimately:- to increase wages for the same or less work hours, Australian companies must begin to value-add, and begin to produce goods and services that sell more economically in the international market place.

One day I would like to hear from a politician or political party what are the goods and services we should be producing and exporting asa country, rather than hear how necessary it is to cut worker’s wages.