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  1. In the first half of the decade, both the incidence and the number of days lost for personal reasons (illness or disability, and personal or family responsibilities) trended upwards. In the latter half of the decade, the rates were flat or declined slightly. As a result, absence rates were somewhat higher in 2010 than in 2000.
  2. In an average week in 2000, excluding women on maternity leave, 6.3% of all full-time employees holding one job were absent from work for all or part of the week for personal reasons. By 2010, the figure had risen to 8.0% (879,000). Total work time missed also rose steadily, from 3.2% of the scheduled week in 2000 to 3.6% in 2010. Extrapolated over the full year, work time lost for personal reasons increased from the equivalent of 8.0 days per worker in 2000 to 9.1 days in 2010.
  3. Full-time employees in the public sector (more likely unionized or female) lost more work time in 2010 for personal reasons (11.8 days on average) than their private-sector counterparts (8.2 days).