Forum Post: A 32-hour, 4-day workweek is the salvation of America
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 26, 2011, 11:25 a.m. EST by 32HourWorkweek
(0)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
The salvation of the American economy is a 32-hour, 4-day workweek.
The government should impose a maximum limit on the workweek: 32-hour, distributed in 4 days or less. EVERYONE should work only 32 hours per week.
That would be far from creating any "economic chaos". Rather, it would bring a lot of beneficies:
The 3-day weekend will boost the leisure and hospitality industry, creating millions of jobs.
If Friday becomes part of the weekend, that would mean one day less of polution from commuting. It would be good for the enviroment, and reduce the cases of lungs cancer. And would reduce the US imports of foreign oil, not only because of less commuting, but also because of the reduction of the consumption of electricity in the offices.
People working 32 hours in 4 days would have less stress-related diseases, like anxiety, depression and hypertension. That would save money from Medicare and Medicaid. And people working 32 hours in 4 days would be happier, and happier people have a higher productivity at work, and are more creative.
This is the real salvation.
Why should the government impose this? Couldn't you and other like minded people apply these rules to your own business? It's something you can do right now without government. Go do it!
Even a 4/40 is good, i used to do that sort of shift, paid good and gave the extra day,
China did this in 1995, going from a 6 day work week to 5 days, to increase employment by tens of millions. Suddenly you need 20% more workers. Voila, unemployment vanishes.
Well what about the minimum wage? Would you raise it?
Yes.
Well I agree then.
I don't see how eliminating work changes the economy for the good or bad. If you only work 32 hours you have less money to spend on weekends. I don't like your idea but I still respect it. I'm a liberal too but hard work never killed anyone.( well yes it has but this isn't china yet.
Europe has minimum vacation time. I'm not sure how this affects their economy, but maybe they have something to teach us.
There economy isnt tanked because vacation time it's tanked because of corruption. Corruption that has caused lower demands for products and goods.
Yeah, it killed... Research some medical papers...
It should be a choice how much people work. Fair wages would eliminate the need to work more than 40 hours a week. If people could make enough in a 40 hour week this problem would solve itself without a cap. If I'm a worker I feel I should have a choice if I work over that. If it is my choice to make an extra couple of bucks to buy whatever good I need. I would be happy not so much stress. But if I'm forced to work another job or extra hours cuz I can't make enough for my needs that is stressful. Yes more work does create more accidents complacency yada yada so yes hard work has,
Yeah! They do similar things in Europe: minimum vacation time. 5 weeks minimum in some countries. The USA is the only country in the first world without a minimum vacation requirement!
I didn't mentioned the benefits for the families, with parents having one more day to spend with their kids.
And I also didn't mentioned that people would have one more day for study and culture.
We're already working people to capacity now at 40+ hours a week to fill orders. So you're saying that my company will have to hire more people, and make less money? I don't think so.
The benefits to the whole society are much more important than your concerns about your individual company.
Oh really now? Altruism is not something I would bet my money on, nor do I think that sort of altruism is good for society and the advancement of society anyways. My household is more important to me than any one else's, and I would question the moral integrity of someone who stated otherwise about their own.
The government impose the law. You obey. I'm not calling for a "voluntary" 32-hour workweek. I'm calling for mandatory one, imposed by the government, and all the business owners like you would have to obey, regardless of being "altruistic" or not.
you can't force human beings to not work if they want to....very anti liberty
Except our government has a distinct interest in keeping businesses profitable. Therefore, there's no reason in even trying to argue to implement such nonsense. The work we do is not difficult, and we'll just end up moving all production to the Mexico plant and closing the three plants here.
Why not make it a 40 hour four day work week? I work Tuesday through Friday with 10 hour days and love it because of the three day weekends. I schedule nearly all of my appointments on Mondays so I don't have to miss work and I still receive a full check at the end of the month.
Working 10 hours per day would be VERY BAD for the population's health. That would nullify all the benefits of not working at Friday, and could be even worse.
I've been doing it for over three years and have no problems with it. Hell, my 5 day, 40 hour work weeks usually ran longer because of late (or early) meetings, but with a 10 hour day, no one is clamoring to hold early or late meetings, so my 40 hours are actually 40 hours rather than the near 60 I put in before.
You are you. Not everyone is equal to you. Medical studies show that working 10 hours per day is bad to the health of most people.
so will you force the people it is good for to stop? Sorry....that seems like destruction of liberty of the individual