Brits choose work over Christmas with the kids

Research reveals that for some Christmas is just another day in the office

Christmas is only 6 days away, but apparently there are many in the UK who will be celebrating in the office. More than 500,000 businessmen and women (roughly 1 in 10) are likely to miss Christmas Day with their families this year due to work commitments, according to research released today. Imagine not seeing the kids open their presents, or being able to watch the Queen’s speech over Christmas dinner with your loved ones because you are just too busy. Many business people regularly fail to see the New Year in with their family as well it would seem, as the same number of people said they will miss New Years Eve this year.

The research, conducted by Clydesdale Bank / Yorkshire Bank, shows that those in the East Midlands are the worst offenders, with almost a quarter having regularly missed Christmas Day. The North West (22%) was second in line and Scotland (20%) came in third suggesting that these regions are willing to prioritise work over family if needs be. At the other end of the scale, businessmen and women in Yorkshire are far more likely to stick to the traditional festive family holidays with only 3% having missed either Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve.

Sadly prioritising work over family doesn’t stop at Christmas, suggesting the British legacy of long working hours will stretch far into 2008. Other important events that were missed by a significant number of business people included children’s birthdays, school plays and family holidays. More than one in five admit to having missed their own child’s birthday in the last year. How this affects the children themselves has yet to be explored.

These findings really are testament to the fact that Brits just don’t know when to say stop when it comes to work…….

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