2 weeks Ago By Aimee Meade
In 1930, the eminent British economist John Maynard Keynes wrote a short essay entitled “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren”. At the height of the global depression, Keynes foresaw the coming “age of leisure and of abundance” – which might usher in the era of the “fifteen-hour week”. It hasn’t quite turned out like that.
Pre-pandemic, UK workers were putting in the longest hours in all of Europe . Full-time workers worked an average of 42 hours a week, two hours more than the EU average, and five more than the average in Denmark. Lockdown prompted a change in thinking.
For many people, the pandemic confronted us with the death of loved ones, the fear of our own mortality, and forced us away from work. Millions of workers were furloughed, many put on reduced hours, and others just had more time and money due to a pause in their daily commute. It pushed many to spend more time with their immediate family, enjoy their company, and take up hobbies.
It made us reassess what matters in life. As Keynes wrote in 1930, “we have been trained too long to strive and not to enjoy”. The lockdowns deprogrammed many of us.
And so it is that today 1,000 workers, across 17 businesses, are embarking on a trial four-day week or reduced working hours and – crucially – with no loss of pay. This is not the first trial. In 2022, over 60 companies employing nearly 3,000 workers participated in a similar scheme.
At least 56 continued with the four-day week after the trial, with 18 of those saying the policy was a permanent change to working practice. A report compiled by the Autonomy Institute showed the benefits accrued to workers and businesses alike. Researchers found that participating businesses saw increased staff retention and no loss of revenue; for workers, less stress and improved work-life balance, especially for those with caring responsibilities.
Across the UK, the 4 Day Week Campaign says that nearly 200 British businesses have permanently switched to a four-day week. But while business is increasingly seeing the light , the UK Government has – so far, at least – not. When South Cambridgeshire Council trialled a four-day week it reported a 33 per cent reduction in workdays lost to sickness, as well as other benefits.
Nevertheless, it was condemned by then Secretary of State Michael Gove. Some might have expected the advent of a Labour government in Westminster to have heralded a change of perspective. Labour is currently legislating for its Employment Rights Bill, which will mark a substantial increase in workers’ rights and trade union empowerment.
Yet, when the Government’s own workers in Angela Rayner’s Housing, Communities and Local Government department petitioned for a four-day week trial last week, the official government response was that it “is not government policy or something we are considering”. North of the border, prospects are even brighter on the four-day week. Last year, the SNP-led Scottish Government agreed to calls for a four-day week trial for staff at agency South of Scotland Enterprise.
The year-long trial has reportedly been successful, and has recently been extended for another six months. The Labour Government should take a leaf from this more enlightened approach, and be less worried by the backlash. It is keen to press its pro-business credentials – and should listen to the dozens of businesses that have adopted or are trialling a four-day week.
Read Next The true cost of Labour's plan for workers' rights Big lifestyle-disrupting traumas tend to produce significant societal change, whether it’s pandemics, natural disasters, revolutions or wars. It was the Second World War that proved the historical spur to implement Keynesian economic policy, and socialist public ownership, and in doing so set Britain on a sustained path of economic growth, full employment, rising living standards and increasing equality. But more recently workers have taken a smaller share of national output, worked longer hours , and inequality has risen.
The proceeds of growth have accumulated to fewer and fewer people. While the average person is worse off in real terms than in 2019, for the super-rich there has been no cost of living crisis, not even a downturn. Last year’s Sunday Times Rich List showed the net worth of the 20 richest people in the country has more than doubled in the past decade.
You might think that, in these circumstances, people would want to work longer hours, and to earn more, but for some people a shorter working week is now the prize. The value of our natural environment, in spending time with friends and family, has been to be put into the balance too. It’s nearly 100 years since Keynes wrote: “I look forward, therefore, in days not so very remote, to the greatest change which has ever occurred in the material environment of life for human beings in the aggregate.
” It’s been a long time coming, but maybe that change is finally going to come. Andrew Fisher is a former executive director of policy for the Labour Party.
