This is News Review from BBC Learning English, where we help you understand news headlines in English. I'm Beth.

And I'm Georgie.

Make sure you watch to the end to learn the vocabulary you need to talk about this story.

And remember to subscribe to our channel so that you can learn more English from the headlines.

Now the story.

Men in the UK are working fewer hours while women are working more.

Since the pandemic, the average number of hours worked in the UK has dropped, especially in men.

At the same time, the number of women working full time has increased, possibly due to more flexible working.

Some experts believe that the overall drop in working hours may be bad for the economy.

You've been looking at the headlines, Georgie, what's the vocabulary that people need to understand this news story in English?

We have "pick up the slack," "drive a trend," and "put in."

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Let's have a look now at our first headline.

This one's from City AM: Men are working much less than they used to. Women are picking up the slack.

So this is about the story that men are working less and women are working more.

We're going to look at the expression "pick up the slack."

Can you start by explaining slack?

It comes from sailing. A rope that is slack is loose.

It's not tight.

There are a few expressions that come from it, but to pick up the slack means to do work that someone else hasn't done.

Ah, ok. So if someone is going on holiday and they haven't done all the work that they're supposed to.

Don't worry, Beth, I'll pick up the slack. I'll do the work for you.

Thank you.

Ok. Now you said that there are some other expressions that use the word slack.

Can you give us some examples?

Sure. If you cut someone some slack, you're flexible and let them not do what they're supposed to.

Slack off. That means you're relaxing or just being lazy.

Well, we cannot slack off because we've got more news review to do. So, let's look at that again.

Let's have our next headline.

This one's from Fortune: Millennial men in the UK are helping drive a trend of falling working hours, and it might be starting to hurt the country's economy.

We're going to look at the expression "drive a trend."

But what kind of driving is going on here?

Drive is being used here to mean move something forward, but it's not a car, it's a metaphor.

Trend is the other part of the expression and it means a pattern of behavior.

So something that drives a trend causes a pattern to happen.

OK. So this headline is saying that when hours in the UK are falling, that is the trend, and men working fewer hours is making it happen. It's driving it.

You'll often see this in the news, something is happening -- a trend-- and it makes us ask the question, what's driving this trend?

So for example, high petrol prices could drive a trend for electric cars.

Yes, that's right.

Ok, let's look at that again.

Can we have our next headline, please?

This one's from The Telegraph: Men work less since Covid - while women put in more hours.

We know the story, but we're going to look at the phrasal verb "put in." Who's putting what, where?

This headline is about women in the UK. They are putting in more hours, they're spending more time working.

This meaning of put in is very similar to spend.

Ok, so we spend time but we can also spend money and spend effort.

So can we also say that we put in money and effort?

Yes, as well as putting in time, you can also put in effort or put in money.

It suggests that something isn't easy.

If you really have to put in the effort to achieve something, it's hard work, and putting in money often means that you're investing in something.

OK. And now we want you to put in the effort and look at that word again.

We've had pick up the slack -- do work that someone else hasn't done.

Drive a trend -- make a pattern happen.

And put in -- spend.

Now, if you've enjoyed this, we think you'll love this six-minute English episode all about flexible working.

Click here to watch.

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Thank you for joining us.

Bye. -Bye.