The case for a 21 hour working week

The Guardian reports on a proposal by New Economics Foundation (NEF) is proposing a much shorter working week, with 21 hours as the goal, to address three major crises that confront us in the 21st century. A much shorter working week would help us all to live more sustainable, satisfying lives by sharing out paid and unpaid time more evenly across the population.

NEF is calling for a slow shift across the course of a decade or more swapping wage increments for shorter hours improved flexibility, and better training to offset skills shortages. A higher minimum wage and more progressive taxation could be gradually introduced.

"Ideas about what is normal can sometimes change quite suddenly – as with not smoking in bars and restaurants. The weight of public opinion can swing from antipathy to routine acceptance, usually when there's a combination of new evidence, changing conditions, a sense of crisis and a strong campaign," said Anna Coote, head of social policy for NEF in the Guardian report.

NEF argues the case in its report, 21 Hours. 

Read the full article at The Guardian, 17 February 2010, tinyurl.com/yz3apjy.
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