Women see commuting time increases during the recession Using the Government's Labour Force Survey, a TUC study found that men now spend an average of 58 minutes a day travelling between their home and workplace, a fall of 0.2 minutes over the past six years. Over the same period women have seen their commuting time rise by 0.6 minutes to 47.4 minutes a day. The TUC believes the change reflects trends in the economy, which has seen more men taking part-time jobs, while the proportion of women working full time has increased. Over the past two years the number of men entering the part-time workforce has risen by 107,000 compared with 55,000 women. Part-time workers tend to have shorter travel to work times, particularly as commuting is prohibitively expensive these days. So the move towards part-time work for men is significant," a TUC spokesman said. Long commute times are linked to higher pay. But we've also found that commute times have fallen fastest in areas where unemployment has risen fastest, suggesting a link between commute times and the wider health of the labour market. The TUC also found wide regional variations in commuting times with Londoners spending 75 minutes getting to and from work, while Welsh workers have the shortest average commute at 41.4 minutes. "The average commuter spends the equivalent of more than five weeks a year just to get to work and back," said Brendan Barber, the TUC's general secretary. With rising transport costs far outstripping pay rises, reducing the number of peak-time commutes would save both time and money for hard-pressed workers.