Tech company Kisi has ranked Singapore the second most overworked city among the top 40 cities in the world, in its 2019 Work-Life Balance Index. The most overworked city in the Index is Tokyo with Washington, Kuala Lumpur and Houston lagging behind Singapore:
The Index, which aims to help cities identify work-related stress and intensity in their respective regions, studied each city’s overall work-life score based on factors like total working hours, commuting, and vacation days taken.
Researchers also studied each city’s society and institutions and looked at factors like access to state-funded health and welfare programmes, support for gender equality and friendliness toward the LGBT community. The index then measured the livability of each city by examining citizens’ overall happiness, safety, and access to wellness and leisure venues.
By examining these factors, the index assigned a score and ranking to each of the 40 cities. Singapore received a total score of 36.36 – in comparison, Helsinki – which is considered the best city for work-life balance – received a score of 100.
In terms of work intensity, the index said that Singapore residents’ average arrival time at work is 9.34am and the average number of work hours per week is 44.6 hours. Singapore residents are offered a minimum of 7 vacation days on average and 14 vacation days are taken by employees on average. The unemployment rate is 2.1 per cent, there are 98 paid parental leave days and an average commute to work takes 44.5 minutes.
When it came to Singapore’s society and institutions, the index said that 7.4 per cent of Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product is spent on social expenditure and the country received a fairly high score of 71.8 when it came to the healthcare system. The access to mental health, however, only received a score of 50.1 and the gender equality score was 67.7.
Singapore, which has a law criminalising gay sex, received a score of 49.6 when it came to the LGBT equality score.
In terms of city livability, Singapore fared much better. Scoring full marks on safety and leisure venues with a safety score and outdoor spaces score of 100, Singapore received a happiness score of 85.9 and a city stress score of 42.5. Air pollutants came in at 18 µg/m3 and the city received a wellness and fitness score of 94.1 and a leisure score of 79.6. -/TISG