The 9-5 working day – immortalised in Dolly Parton’s 1980’s hit – has become the norm for British workers.

However, YouGov research reveals that given the choice, 66% of employees would prefer the eight hour day to start earlier than 9am.

Just 14% of the near 2,000 surveyed said they would continue with the standard 9-5 working day and 15% said they wanted their shift to start after 9am.

A further 13% want to work from 8.30am to 4.30pm, one in 10 favour 7am to 3pm while 25% wanted to work 8am to 4pm.

These earlier start times aren’t just because of parental duties. YouGov said the results showed that both those without children (62%) and those with adult offspring (73%) are equally likely to want to start their working day earlier as those with schools age kids (67%).

However, YouGov did find that age and whether people live in London helped to dictate the start times. Nearly one in five 18-24-year-olds want to start work later (after 9pm) while just 9% of those aged 54-65 want to start then.

Londoners are much more likely to want a later start time. Given the choice, 27% of employed people in the capital want their work day to start after 9am, compared to 12% in the rest of the South, and 13% in the North.

YouGov suggested this could be down to a combination of London’s younger population or the overcrowding during rush hour.