Shorter Work Week?

Shorter Work Weeks In America

Gracie Stengel -April 12, 2022

The daily grind. Wake up at 8 am, drink your coffee, hop in the car and drive to work. Just like Dolly Parton said, "Working 9 to 5". But what if that wasn't the life we all have to look forward to anymore? Prioritizing health and happiness could soon be the future of the American working class.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, people worldwide saw what life could be like if the work-life balance was different. Spending more time with their families, having opportunities to get out and be active, and cooking meals at home became normal. Now that life is returning to the way it was before, many have started to raise questions about if this is how life should be.

The proposal of shortened work weeks has begun to gain in popularity. Some companies are open to the possibility of a 4-day work week, and some have even started to implement it. In Iceland, a study of 2,500 workers was performed to see if implementing a 4-day work week would result in a better workforce. Throughout the experiment, it was revealed that people were happier, healthier, and more productive. It has also shown to be a great success in other small countries like Spain, Scotland, and Ireland (Tiwari).

What does this mean for Students?

This model has been proposed in schools also. Allowing the possibility for students to have jobs or do more work from home. While some worry about more free-time leading to behavior issues or decreased supervision , it would allow more freedom to build responsibility. Students would be more productive because they would have days off to rest and come back with a fresh mind.

While there are definitely cons to implementing this shorter work week, I think it is an important step. In America especially, we tend to focus on how much money we can make or how hard we can push ourselves. But there is more to life than money and productivity. We learned from Covid that our priorities should be on our friends, family, and ourselves. Making sure we have a balance between our work and our personal lives will set us up to be happier and healthier in the future.

Work Cited

Tiwari, Anuj. “From UAE to New Zealand: These Countries Where You Can Enjoy 3-Day Weekend.” IndiaTimes, 21 Feb. 2022, https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/social-relevance/list-of-countries-have-shifted-to-four-day-work-week-562456.html.