We need a four-day workweek
For the planet, our health and our happiness — it’s time to ditch the 40-hour week
In 1930, the great economist John Maynard Keynes made a bold prediction. He envisioned that by the time the 21st century rolled around, we’d all be working 15-hour weeks. Keynes argued that technological advances would eliminate most of the menial tasks, freeing humanity to pursue leisure, cultural enrichment and general self-betterment. But today, Americans are working harder than ever. Some 87 percent of men and 67 percent of women work more than 40 hours a week in this country.
How was Keynes so far off the mark? He wasn’t. Not really.
The productivity of the American worker has risen 400 percent since 1950, so theoretically, the average worker should enjoy the same standard of living as someone in the 1950s while working only about 11 hours a week (or their quality of life should be four times better).
So, in a sense, Keynes was correct. We should be working a lot less and getting a lot more. Why aren’t we?
Well, the benefits of that massive productivity boom largely flowed upward. Union membership declined drastically while the globalization of production gave those at the top leverage to squeeze more out of their workforces. With organized labor so…
