Europeans willing to work longer ... for more pay[fr][de] 

Around 70% of the workers interviewed in five countries (UK, France, Spain, Italy and Germany) expressed a desire to work a longer working week if they were paid more. Not surprisingly, France, which has a mandatory 35-hours working week, has the highest number of interviewees expressing a wish to work more (75%).

When asked whether governments should be allowed to establish mandatory retirement ages, the results are mixed. In the UK, 22% say yes with 65% rejecting a government-set retirement age. French and German workers also do not want their governments to decide when they should retire but the margins are much smaller (France 42% yes and 51% no; Germany 34% yes and 54% no). However, in Italy (47% yes- 45% no) and especially in Spain (72% yes - 23% no) people want the government to set the retirement age.

Other results of the survey:

• In all five countries, workers would like to work longer than the official pension age;
• For most Europeans, Europe is the better place to work when compared to the USA;
• In all countries except Italy, workers take their annual paid leave in full
• The greatest threat to global stability according to the Brits, the French and the Spanish is the United States; Italians see Iran as the biggest threat and Germans are divided (24% say US; 24% Iran).

The FT/Harris poll was conducted with nearly 10,000 adults in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy between 2 and 14 August.