Before Great Recession hit, lower-income households expanded work hours more than average: Average annual hours worked, bottom 20 percent of working-age households by income and all households, selected years, 1979–2016

Annual hours worked Change
1979 1989 1995 2000 2007 2016 1995–2000 2007–2016 1979–2007
All 3,092 3,286 3,317 3,378 3,314 3,335 1.8% 0.6% 7.2%
Bottom fifth 1,716 1,884 1,837 1,977 1,880 1,829 7.6% -2.7% 9.6%

Note: Working-age households are those headed by someone under age 65. Data are for money income. Percentage changes are approximated by taking the difference of natural logs of wages and hours.

Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement microdata

View the underlying data on epi.org.