The End of the 40-Hour Workweek

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- The era of a 9-to-5 workweek appears to be coming to an end.

Higher-level workers are increasingly being asked to put in 50 hours or more a week, effectively working an 8-to-6 work week at the very least, while lower-income workers are often forced to work fewer hours but at jobs with irregular schedules, according to a comprehensive report from the Center for American Progress, which reviewed dozens of studies from the previous 30 years to understand the changing work/life struggles of the country's labor force.

Some workers feel pressure to put in 50 hours or more, while others face night and weekend hours, a report shows.

Driving these changes, as the center explains it, are companies turning lower-level, full-time jobs into part-time employment to cut costs, savings that come at the expense of workers -- and their families -- losing the traditional schedules and financial benefits that come with full-time employment.

Some 38% of men in professional and management positions worked at least 50 hours a week between 2006 and 2008 up from 34% who worked those hours 30 years prior, based on government studies cited in the report. Women in higher-level positions experienced an even steeper change, with 14% working 50 hours or more in 2006 and 2008 compared with just 6% who did between 1977 and 1979.

These longer work schedules, which the center describes as being "ramped up versions" of what full-time employment once meant, were found to be particularly common on the higher end of the income ladder.