A shorter working week

For many people in employment, today is the start of a three-day working week. There's been endless discussion in the media about how the extra public holiday makes it possible to take an 11 day break with only three day's leave. As I don't currently have a job, I can't get too excited about the extra day's holiday and I've been more interested in the limited discussion there has been about the idea of a shorter working week on a permanent basis.

There was an interesting article in the Guardian about this last week. In the 1950s, it was assumed that technological advances would reduce working hours and everyone would have a three-day week-end on a regular basis. Of course, what has happened instead is that for many people technology, in the form of mobile communications, has extended the number of working hours. The author argues that this isn't a very effective way to work and that too much employment in the 21st century is about activity rather than productivity.

The Guardian article also includes a short history of shorter working, in which the most recent development is a report by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) called 21 hours. This makes the case for a much shorter working week becoming the norm, arguing that this could help solve a range of problems from unemployment to a lack of time to live sustainably. Whilst many people are unable to get paid work, others work too many hours and compensate for this by an over-reliance on energy intensive consumer goods and services. So as well as reducing inequalities, a shorter working week would also have environmental benefits.

Even the report's authors acknowledge that achieving this will not be simple and that there is much work still to be done. They finish by setting out ideas for addressing the transitional problems that would arise and ensuring the necessary conditions are created. These include ways of incentivising employers, compensating lost earnings, sharing unpaid time more equally between women and men, and changing the climate of opinion.

The report makes interesting reading and the issue is something the current government should be in favour of - after all, the plans for a Big Society will only work, if people have more time to devote to their local communities. I first came across 21 hours when it was published a couple of months ago and it reinforced my own feeling that ideally I would like to work fewer hours in the future which is why I am currently seeking part-time or freelance opportunities.