Claim d2d30cfbChecked 21 Jul 2026
TrueOn the truth scale
“These people work very hard.”
Reasoning & Evidence21 Jul 2026
The claim that farmers, deep-sea fishermen, and small shopkeepers "work very hard" is a broad but well-supported assertion about these three occupational groups.
**Farmers:** A 2018 survey of over 700 UK farmers found an average working week of 65 hours, compared to a national average of 37 hours (submitted as written evidence to Parliament). More recent data from the 2025 Farmdex Report found that 84% of UK farmers work over 40 hours per week, with 36% exceeding 70 hours during peak seasons. The RABI Big Farming Survey also documented long hours, physical danger, and modest financial rewards as characteristic of farming life.
**Deep-sea fishermen:** Research published in the *British Journal of Industrial Medicine* (Schilling, 1971) documented that deck crew on distant-water side trawlers worked 18 hours a day with only 6 hours of continuous rest during fishing operations. The CDC has described commercial fishing as characterized by "hazardous working conditions, strenuous labor, long work hours, and harsh weather," with a fatality rate over 28 times the U.S. average. A Spanish fisherman reported working 60 hours a week at sea, and the work is widely recognized as among the most dangerous occupations.
**Small shopkeepers:** Research analyzing UK Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings data (2025) found that shop owners work an average of 74 hours per week—the highest of any profession analyzed out of 330 roles. Multiple news reports consistently describe corner shop and small retail owners working seven days a week with no sick days, starting before dawn.
All three groups are consistently documented as working well above average hours under demanding, often precarious or dangerous conditions. The claim is accurate and no material qualification is missing.
Sources:
- UK Parliament Written Evidence: Mental Health Risks to Farmers in England and Wales — https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/43055/html/
- RABI Big Farming Survey — https://rabi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/RABI-Big-Farming-Survey-FINAL-single-pages-No-embargo-APP-min.pdf
- Schilling, R.S.F. (1971), "Hazards of deep-sea fishing," *British Journal of Industrial Medicine*, via PMC/NIH — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1009188/
- CDC/NIOSH, Commercial Fishing — https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/maritime/about/commercial-fishing.html
- Neighbourhood Retailer, "Shop owners revealed as UK's hardest workers" — https://neighbourhoodretailer.com/shop-owners-revealed-as-uks-hardest-workers/
- The Guardian, "Meet Britain's corner shop owners" — https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/apr/02/baby-in-box-on-counter-meet-britains-corner-shop-owners
From article
You write about how much fun you had, ‘drinking more or less continuously’, and what shedloads of money you were getting. What have you got in common with the kind of people you identify as the rank and file of Ukip: farmers, deep-sea fishermen, small shopkeepers? These are people whose living is often precarious, sometimes very dangerous, never ‘fun’, and they work very hard.
Sources opened