"Working patterns are changing rapidly; among the causes are demographic, structural, social, international and technological factors. The next few issues of Labour Market Trends will include several articles on working time arrangements exploring the recent increase in total actual hours worked per week, changes in working trends over the past decade, a comparison of hours worked from different ONS surveys, and an international comparison of usual hours worked. This article provides an introduction to the subject, including an overview of the available measures and of the measurement issues being addressed internationally.Working time arrangements can be measured in a range of different ways. Four dimensions are generally referred to: the number of hours actually worked in a period of time;their stability/flexibility from week to week; the schedule of hours worked across the day, week and year; and the location where work is undertaken. Two of the most widely used measures, ‘actual hours worked' and ‘usual hours worked' are discussed in detail.The more widespread use of non-standard working arrangements is making it harder to account for hours worked and highlights the need for good quality hours-based measures. ONS is working with the Paris Group (one of a number of ‘city groups' set up by the United Nations Statistical Commission) and the International Labour Organisation to develop new international standards for good quality measures of working time arrangements."

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