Unpaid overtime costs Millennials £34bn and it's also impacting their health

Millennials are handing over up to £34 billion in unpaid overtime annually, recent statistics reveal. A survey of 2,000 employed adults discovered they clock up nearly three hours of unpaid work each week beyond their contracted hours.

Based on the average hourly wage of £18.24, this amounts to roughly £49 being forfeited for free every week by each full-time employed Millennial. It also emerged that those aged 18-44 clock up the most overtime – with this falling to just over two hours of overtime per week for Boomers. Ambition is a key motivator with 63 per cent of Millennialsand 76 per cent of Gen Z under the impression that overtime is crucial to get ahead.

The study also found that 30 per cent of Gen Z and 22 per cent of Millennials feel pressured a few times a week, if not every day, to work overtime to meet the expectations placed upon them.

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However, this lack of leisure time is impacting mealtimes and nutrition as 73 per cent admitted their job negatively influences their diet and eating habits. The typical working Millennial opts for fast food or takeaways for dinner twice a week due to a lack of time to cook for themselves.

George Taylor, founder at Frive, which commissioned the research, said: “Society has got the wrong end of the stick when it comes to younger generations. Millennials and Gen Z are actually working harder than anyone, but often at the expense of their health and happiness.”

A third of Gen Z and Millennials will spend three or four evenings out of the average week still at their desks, something only 22 per cent of the general population do.

As a result, a third of Millennial workers will regularly miss being home for dinner, and 19 per cent have missed a family member's birthday. According to data from OnePoll.com, five per cent even confessed they weren't at the birth of their own child due to work obligations.

This level of stress may be why 60 per cent of these generations would be willing to take a pay cut if it meant they could work fewer hours.

Frive's spokesperson added: "Work is important, but without balance, burnout is inevitable – something that I found out the hard way myself. And sacrificing on our nutrition and our health in the pursuit of success doesn't help with this either.

"Ultra-processed foods play a big part in our health – adolescents in the UK now get nearly two-thirds of their calories from UPFs in foods such as meal deals or takeaways. These foods are convenient in the short term but are linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even poor mental health.

"That's why we made it our mission to make eating well easy, quick and nutritious, giving people back the time and energy they need to thrive."

Top 10 things Brits have missed due to working overtime:

Being home on time for dinner

Drinks or dinner with friends

A friend's birthday

A football match

Personal health appointments

A family member's birthday

A child's sports day

Picking the kids up from school

A concert

A date or night out with a partner