During the recession, many employees found themselves working longer hours as businesses cut their workforces and were therefore forced to ask workers to make up for a staffing deficit. Many more felt pressured to show huge amounts of dedication in order to curry favour with employers during a period of low job security.
Now that the recession is over, the majority have resorted to the usual 40 hour working week – however, economists have revealed that they believe this is still too much. They recommend cutting working hours to only 30 per week, stating that this move would benefit wellbeing, friendships, communities and family life.
In a book published by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), the body examines changes to the labour market in countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium and how these have benefited societies across Europe. Should these changes be implemented in the UK, they claim issues such as high unemployment and carbon emissions could be targeted productively.
The Netherlands, for example, has encouraged young people starting out in the job market to work a four-day week in order to ease them in to their new roles. Not only does this reduce stress on workers, but also creates more roles for young people thanks to a larger number of available hours – with youth unemployment still a growing problem in the UK, this could certainly have its benefits.
Belgium, meanwhile, has given workers the rights to request shorter hours and has increased the national minimum wage, which economists claim has had a huge impact upon the wellbeing of the nation’s workforce.
Head of social policy at the NEF, Anna Coote, believes that giving workers more free time would greatly enhance their quality of living whilst also ensuring the economy remains stable.
She says; “We must rethink the way we divide up our hours between paid and unpaid activities, and make sure everyone has a fair share of free time.
“We all know the saying ‘time is money’, but it is much more precious than that. Time poverty and money poverty often go hand in hand.”
This issue is nothing new in the UK, as many businesses have already taken small steps to give workers more flexibility in their working hours. Most, for example, will allow working mothers to work from home if their child is unwell while others encourage flexible working hours in order to allow employees to work at times which best suits them.
However, with a large percentage of workers still unable to earn a proper living wage, some cannot afford to cut hours further as this would leave them unable to pay for essentials. Ms Coote believes that this issue must be addressed as a matter of urgency in order to maximise the output of the workforce.
She concludes; “Having too little time to call our own can seriously damage our health and wellbeing, our family life, friendships and communities.
“No one should be made to work long and unsocial hours to make ends meet – low pay and long-hours working must be tackled at the same time.”
Would you choose to work fewer hours in a week if the possibility arose, or do you believe too much free time would also create problems in life?
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