Steal our charts: Issue 5

Please feel free to use these visualizations and charts we’ve created in your reports, presentations and social media. 

We’re making the infographics and charts from this issue of the ReThink Quarterly available for anyone to use in their own presentations and reports. 

Image description: A bar chart depicting "vacation days around the globe in 1900"; Spain, 31; Italy, 24; France, 23; Belgium 21; Ireland, 20; United Kingdom, 20; Switzerland, 18; Germany, 18; World average, 16; Denmark, 14; Sweden, 13; Australia, 9; Canada, 9; Netherlands, 5; United States, 5. End of alt text.

Evidence of people taking “vacations” dates back to at least the Roman Empire. But paid time off for workers was rare until the 1920s.

Embed this visualization

<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/8928509"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>
Image description: Bar chart depicting "vacation days around the globe in 2000": Germany, 43; Italy, 42; Sweden, 38; Netherlands, 38; Denmark, 37; France, 36; Spain, 36; world average, 33; Belgium, 33; Switzerland, 33; United Kingdom, 33; Australia, 32; Ireland, 30; Canada, 24; United States, 20. End of alt text.

The average number of paid days off — including vacation time and national holidays — was only 13.8 in 1870. By 2000, it had more than doubled to 33.4 days.

Embed this visualization

<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/8928509"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>
Image description: Bar chart depicting "average annual working hours per worker in 1870": United Kingdom, 2,755; Australia, 2,792; Canada, 2,845; Spain, 2,968; Italy, 3,000; world average, 3,047; United States, 3096; Ireland, 3,108; France, 3,168; Switzerland, 3,195; Netherlands, 3,274; Germany, 3,284; Denmark, 3,434; Sweden, 3,436; Belgium, 3,483. End of alt text.

In the 19th century, as the Industrial Revolution took shape in what’s now considered the developed world, workers put in long hours. In 1870, people in some countries worked almost twice as much as they do now and got no paid days off.

Embed this visualization

<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/8976097"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>
Image description: Bar chart depicting "average annual working hours per worker in 2017": Germany, 1,354; Denmark, 1,400; Netherlands, 1,430; France, 1,514; Belgium 1,544; Switzerland, 1,590; Sweden, 1,609; world average 1,631; United Kingdom 1,670; Spain, 1,686; Canada, 1,696; Italy, 1,723; Australia, 1,731; Ireland, 1,746; United States, 1,757. End of alt text.

In 1870, the average number of hours a worker spent on the job each year was 3,047, or nearly 60 hours per week. By 2017, the average had been reduced by half, to 1,631 hours. The increased number of vacation days accounts for part of the decline, while a large part is attributed to legal mandates on maximum weekly and daily work hours.

Embed this visualization

<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/8976097"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>
Image description: World map depicting "average weekly working hours" End of alt text.

Countries that industrialized early have the lowest average work hours; workers in the developing world continue to work significantly more.

Embed this visualization

<iframe title="Average weekly working hours" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8P0Xn/5/" frameborder="0" height="410"></iframe>
Image description: Graphic depicting "productivity per hour worked." End of alt text.

Though workers in some developing nations are working substantially more than those in industrialized nations, the value of those working hours remains lower. The chart above depicts productivity by world region as measuring an average work hour’s share of the gross domestic product.

Embed this visualization

<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/9012078"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>
Image description: Chart depicting "gender disparity in leisure time." End of alt text.

Around the world, women work more than men and spend less time on leisure. The disparities are huge even in Europe. For instance, in Italy women spend around 280 minutes a day on leisure activities, while men have 366 minutes. Norway has the highest amount of leisure time and is the only country where the gender divide is almost equal, though leisure time is still lower for women.

Embed this visualization

<iframe title="Gender disparity in leisure time" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/862s7/5/" frameborder="0" height="410"></iframe>
Image description: Poll results depicting "workers who have...considered making a major career change"; on-site workers, 53%; remote workers, 72%; "...considered requesting a sabbatical"; on-site workers, 10%, remote workers, 27%; "...considered taking a temporary break from work"; on-site workers, 11%; remote workers, 19%; "...considered going from full-time to part-time"; on-site workers, 11%; remote workers, 18%. End of alt text.

People who work remotely are more likely to be considering major career changes in 2022, the ADP Research Institute found in its new report People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View.

Embed this visualization

<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/9799807"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>
Image description: Pie chart depicting "how people get paid worldwide", split between "direct deposit," "paper check" and "nontraditional." End of alt text.

Very few people actually touch paper checks anymore. The ADP Research Institute in 2019 found that more than 80% of workers globally are paid via direct deposit.

Embed this visualization

<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/9409361"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>
Image description: Bar chart depicting historical check usage in the United States between 1939 and 2020. End of alt text.

In the United States, check payments accounted for almost 80% of all purchases in 1995 but fell to about 45% in 2004 and just 7% in 2017.

Embed this visualization

<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/9480053"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>
Image description: Chart depicting the decline in the global use of checks between 2012 and 2020. End of alt text.

Use of the paper check remains notable in the United States, France and Canada, though it has declined significantly since 2012.

Embed this visualization

<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/9396340"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>
Image description: Chart depicting Iceland's tourism economy between 2009 and 2021, split between tourism as % of total exports and tourism income in billions of USD. End of alt text.

Leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism had been Iceland’s largest export for several years.

Embed this visualization

<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/9287076"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>
Image description: Line graph depicting Iceland's unemployment rate between 2003 and 2022. End of alt text.

The road to recovery has been slow, but the labor market situation in Iceland has improved. The government projects that the unemployment rate will sink to 4.3% in 2022, close to pre-pandemic levels.

Embed this visualization

<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/9287645"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script></div>