Long hours and poor pay have become commonly accepted, but they are taking a heavy toll on life at home. It is not a pretty picture: an economy where high levels of stress and anxiety are normal, where people get ill because they have lost control of their time, and where marriages are damaged and children suffer. Yet it is a situation that politicians invite us to applaud. They praise 'strivers' and 'hard-working people', not chilled-out, caring mums and dads. The longer and harder we work, the more admirable we are supposed to be. So the political slogans have clearly been effective, but the resulting glorification of work has made us miserable.