of due to shorter hours at work etc. this is one of the main reasons for the growth of the leisure and recreation industry.
             Full-time workers 1971 1981 1991 1996 2001*
             Weekly hours of work 42.0 40.3 40.0 40.2 39.7
             Paid holiday days 16.7 22.8 24.2 24.6 25.1
             Public holiday days 6.0 9.0 8.0 8.0 8.0
             Annual hours of work per worker 1,999 1,844 1,829 1,832 1,807
             % Of labour force employed as part-time workers 15.5 20.9 25.3 27.9 30
             Numbers in employment (millions) 24.7 24.5 26.3 25.9 27.1
             Numbers registered unemployed (millions) 0.7 2.4 2.2 2.1 1.2
             *2001 figures are forecasts Source: Leisure Forecasts
             As this table shows back in 1971 on average people used to work 42 hours a week but as the decades have gone on, the hours of work per week has decreased but only very slightly this is the same with the annual hours of work per worker. So this means "more leisure time", but probably not sufficient enough more time to be counted as extra leisure time. Then we also have nearly 10 more paid holiday days than they did 30 years ago. Once again this means "more leisure time" and also "more disposable income" as well. Public holidays a year have also increased as the years go on. The percentage of labour force employed as part time workers has pretty much doubled since 1971, which means that there are more people in employment, but they also have "more leisure time", because they are in part-time work and not full time. The number of unemployed people has risen since 1971 but has also decreased within the last decade but is still more than the number in the 1970s. These people in unemployment have obviously got a lot of leisure time, but not a lot of disposable income at all, so their leisure activities are limited.
             So obviously people having a lot more leisure time has been a key factor in the growth of the leisure and recreation industry, because it has been able to expand due to t...