To celebrate the Labour Day long weekend, Ancestry, Australia’s number one family history website can reveal that the elusive eight-hour work day might still be out of reach, with 50 per cent of Australians reporting that they are working more than eight hours a day according to new research.
As Australians gear up for an extra day off work, many will be unaware that Labour Day was originally a celebration of the modern ‘work-life balance’. The introduction of the eight hour work day which was in reaction to the 10-12 hour working days labourers were working in the 1850s.
The research also uncovered other trends in modern working habits such as the fact that one in six Australians working in a job which didn’t even exist 20 years ago.
Interestingly, only seven per cent of Australians claim to work in their chosen occupations for the pay packet alone. Instead, Australians seem to value a rewarding career above all, with 37 per cent selecting their interest in the work as the reason for their chosen career path.
To help you uncover more about the occupations in your family tree, Ancestry is providing free access to their 117 million Australian records from 12:01AM AEST, Friday 3October until 11:59PM AEDT, Monday 6 October, 2014.
Although more than a third of Australians are unaware of the occupations their grandparents held, many of those surveyed suggested they are ‘keeping it in the family’ when it comes to choosing a career path, with a quarter of Australians having siblings who work in the same occupation as their parents or grandparents. With Gen Ys estimated to have about 10 career or job changes in their lifetime, Aussies are also drawn to throwing their ancestors’ occupations into that mix, as over 20 per cent of Australians have worked in the same occupation as their parents or grandparents at some stage of their life.
That said, it seems that Australian parents are not looking to continue a family legacy, with 67 per cent of Australians claiming that they wouldn’t encourage their children to follow in their career path.
Ancestry member, Diane Jeffs, discovered that her family’s knack for managing local businesses has been in the blood since 1806. Diane was eager to discover the history which was lost when her grandfather, Joseph Leo Fisher, was orphaned in the 1890s. Joseph had begun the family supermarket business named Noah’s Ark in Queensland in the 1920s, passing it down to his son and then grandson, Diane’s brother. Using Ancestry records she discovered her great, great, grandfather and grandmother owned a shoe manufacturing business, which was passed down through three generations of her family tree also. Talk about keeping it in the family!
Ancestry Content Director, Ben Mercer said: “One of the best ways to bring your family history to life is through discovering your ancestors’ occupations. What we do for work is a major part of who we are, and this wasn’t too different a century ago. You would be surprised what details you can dig up when you extract the useful information from those family stories told over the dinner table.
Piecing together your family history may just give you some answers around what drove you down your chosen career path or paths.”
This Labour Day long weekend, you too can uncover your family’s hidden talents, by jumping online for free access to all Australian records on Ancestry.
Ancestry Australian records will be open from 12.01AM AEST on Friday 3 October, until 11.59PM AEDT on Monday 6 October, 2014.
To access the free collections, please visit: www.ancestry.com.au/occupations2014