Due to rising UK house prices and rents, a growing number of employees cannot afford to live near their place of work, according to the TUC.

Overall, there has been a 72 per cent rise in people travelling for two hours or more every day so they can commute to and from work, over the course of the last decade.

Official figures indicate that an estimated three million people now incorporate a journey of two hours or more as part of their working day.

The financial crisis of 2008 started the trend for people travelling longer in order to find a job or keep an existing one, and the TUC has highlighted that a lack of investment in public transport and roads during the subsequent years has actually added to overall journey times.

Since 2004, there has been a 131 per cent rise in the number of women travelling for three hours or more every day, which is the biggest change in the last ten years.

In 2015, approximately 880,000 people complete a daily commute of three hours or more for work purposes, which represents an increase of 380,000 from the figure recorded a decade ago.

Across the regions that had seen the greatest increase in those undertaking long commutes were the South East, South West, East Midlands and Wales.

The services sector remains to be a strong performer for the UK economy, but there has been a 167 per cent jump in the sector’s workers that commute for three hours or more every day.

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