Get ready for the X-day week!

Abstract

"The clunky debate over four versus five days should be replaced by a focus on flexibility and individal autonomy. - Why should five days of work per week actually be the best option? This question is being asked more and more. The shock of the pandemic showed that it is possible to work differently. In many countries, single-earner households have become a thing of the past. When both partners are active in the labour market, other models are needed. Labour is scarce, in Germany more than at any other time since the Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle) - and Germany is not alone. This makes it easier to have one’s wishes heard than in times of mass unemployment. Today, especially the younger generations want to work less and have more leisure time - that’s what we often hear. Yet this may not be true: representative survey results in Germany show that, on average, nowadays people do not want to work shorter hours. For men, the desired working hours have decreased but only slightly, by one to two hours per week. After a temporary increase since, this would simply take us back to the 1990s. Accordingly, surveys have found that only a small minority of full-time employees would prefer to switch to a four-day week. This however becomes a clear majority if the salary is not reduced. This is unsurprising, since working four days a week for the same salary would mean an hourly wage premium of 25 per cent." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Weber, E. (2023): Get ready for the X-day week! In: Social Europe No. 26.07.2023.