I took a poll recently on CNN where the question was what would your preference be ; if you were to choose between more pay and a longer weekend. 80% of respondents polled said they preferred the latter. But is this what reality dishes out
Earlier in the 20th Century Economist Keynes had predicted that work week would get shorter as technological advancement made work faster and tasks could finish in fraction of time it took in the 1930's.
Where did that benefit or improvement go? What accrued as gains probably did not result in gains for leisure since people became more keen on consumption and spending that they had to earn more and therefore get more pay. This is the contrast we see even today. Given a choice one says "prefer more leisure (or weekend extended) but that is not happening due to need to earn more for ever growing needs and wants which is pushing us to earn more.to satisfy needs and wants.
On good shift we had in India since about 1980's the concept of five day work week came about in India and the number of hours worked per day went up to maintain the overall weekly work hours. This meant longer week ends and more time for self and family.
Some argue that in countries with lower productivity people are actually working more (See Link Below) You will find that German productivity is 70% higher than Greek even though Greek work hours are much more than in Germany.
(http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/09/working-hours)
However the question for us to consider : Is the productivity being high a outcome or a precedence to less working hours. I think it is more to do with being able to spare more time since you are at advanced levels of productivity.
Where did that benefit or improvement go? What accrued as gains probably did not result in gains for leisure since people became more keen on consumption and spending that they had to earn more and therefore get more pay. This is the contrast we see even today. Given a choice one says "prefer more leisure (or weekend extended) but that is not happening due to need to earn more for ever growing needs and wants which is pushing us to earn more.to satisfy needs and wants.
On good shift we had in India since about 1980's the concept of five day work week came about in India and the number of hours worked per day went up to maintain the overall weekly work hours. This meant longer week ends and more time for self and family.
Some argue that in countries with lower productivity people are actually working more (See Link Below) You will find that German productivity is 70% higher than Greek even though Greek work hours are much more than in Germany.
(http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/09/working-hours)
However the question for us to consider : Is the productivity being high a outcome or a precedence to less working hours. I think it is more to do with being able to spare more time since you are at advanced levels of productivity.
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