Work clearly does not agree with women - or at least those surveyed by a magazine. Most of its 5,000 readers complain that they are left exhausted, stressed and ill by their working lives.

According to the poll, 84 per cent of British women feel disillusioned with work. Nearly as many say they would quit if they could. "Women are working themselves into the ground," says Top Sant editor Sharon Parson.

And what are the men doing while their wives and partners work their way to an early grave? Perhaps the chaps are topping up their tan on a health club sun-bed. Or maybe they have just gone fishing.

That is the absurdity of the magazine survey. It ignores half the population completely. Of course most women would like to get off the treadmill - but so would most men.

By focusing exclusively on the female perspective, the survey is unnecessarily divisive. Working life in modern Britain is tough for everyone.

Employees here work longer hours than almost any other country in Europe. Firms in every sector of business have cut back to the minimum of staff. The emphasis is always on greater efficiency and more productivity. Individual workloads have increased proportionately.

Workers take on these extra responsibilities because they feel they have no choice. Job security is now only a memory. People often extend their working day to prove their indispensability. And their family life suffers as a result.

This should not be a new battleground in the war of the sexes. It is a problem that affects society as a whole. Although many of the magazine's respondents complain that they shoulder the burden of domestic chores, men are taking greater responsibility at home. The survey suggests that the answer to the working woman's prayers would be a lottery jackpot win or more help from their partner. But that misses the real problem: the longer hours we are all being asked to work.

Half of the women in full-time employment spend 50 hours at work. The figure would be the same for men. This is the cause of stress and exhaustion. If we want to improve family life, we should be making efforts to reduce the time spent in the workplace - by men and women.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.