Why A Four Day Work Week Should Be Mandatory
Last week, Flexo from Consumerism Commentary asked whether a four-day work week is a good idea. I think it’s a great idea. In fact, it’s so good I think it should be strongly encouraged by the government, if not out-right required. Why? Because it would help solve a lot of our worst problems in one fell swoop.
Save Money, Work Less!
As Flexo notes, commuting to work only four days per week would save a ton of gas and cut down on commuting costs. But that’s not all: local governments would save money on road maintenance, emergency services (less traffic means fewer accidents), and law enforcement costs. Furthermore, commuters would spend less time in traffic, improving productivity and leading to greater disposable income and higher corporate profits.
In addition to the financial and economic benefits, a four-day work week would also have environmental benefits. Everybody wins when there’s fewer cars on the road because fewer cars means fewer emissions, less pollution, and cleaner air. You can’t put a price on air quality.
Shorter Work Weeks Benefit Employees Too
Employers and the environment aren’t the only winners: employees come out ahead too. Can anybody honestly say they wouldn’t love every weekend to be a three-day weekend? As a whole, workers would be more relaxed, better rested, and more productive than they are now with no net loss in output. Everybody wins.
What do you think? Do you think the economy would benefit from such a widespread change? Why or why not?
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I see this is in your commentary/humor category, so forgive me if this was meant to be tongue-in-cheek and I missed that!
I do see several problems with a four day work week. First, that means people with kids have to make big adjustments–either spending more money on childcare or leaving them home alone before/after school. Also, I don’t know that traffic will necessarily be reduced by having a three-day weekend. People will have a whole extra day to run errands and do things they can’t do during the week, especially not after their workday has been extended. Sure, shoppers etc. won’t equal the number of commuters, but you can’t really expect everyone to just stay home, can you? Finally, what of government offices? Are they required to have a four-day week? What does that mean if you have to go to the post office, or get your license plate renewed? I wouldn’t want to make the people who work there any more frazzled than they already are.
I know that neither a four-day week nor a five-day week is perfect, but I just wanted to put my thoughts out there.