4 ms·

I think it’s more like 60 to 80 hours per week of “work”, both personal and professional. A society set up for 60 hours a week would have you outsource pretty m

by Joeri 9y ago

I think it’s more like 60 to 80 hours per week of “work”, both personal and professional. A society set up for 60 hours a week would have you outsource pretty much all housework, shopping and assorted chores in order not to burn out. I believe it when people routinely do 70 hour weeks, but only if they don’t have a personal life of their own that they sink effort into.

Consultant32452 9y ago
Back before the 40 hour work week a lot of those tasks were outsourced to wives.
- isostatic 9y ago
  > During the 40 hour week that work was outsourced to wives It wasn't until the late 70s that married women start to maintain full time jobs in large numbers (The 'quiet revolution'), but the 40 hour week was in place 30 years earlier. Of course now we have the situation where you have to have two full time earners to run a household. When I was at highschool in the 90s, I was quite unusual in having two working parents. My best friend for most of high school had a stay at home dad, who looked after him and his younger brother, my other close friend has a stay at home mom. That was fine, as house prices were still in the c. 4 time average income range. It's the other way round now, where house prices are in the c. 8 times average income range, so it's rare to find anyone with a single income family, and UK society subsidises the two income lifestyle and childcare industry -- you get tax breaks for sending your 1 year old to nursery 50 hours a week, but not for asking a grandparent to look after them, or even reduce your hours so (god forbid) the parents can look after them.
  - Consultant32452 8y ago
    There's a good joke in there about women joining the work force to get away from their husbands who were now home more with that 40 hour work week.
- watwut 8y ago
  In middle and upper class. Poor people had to work all the time and that often included small children. Fun fact I gathered:30% of Victorian workforce were women, because social situation was that. (There were also high levels of prostitution).

by Joeri 9y ago

Consultant32452 9y ago

Back before the 40 hour work week a lot of those tasks were outsourced to wives.

isostatic 9y ago
> During the 40 hour week that work was outsourced to wives It wasn't until the late 70s that married women start to maintain full time jobs in large numbers (The 'quiet revolution'), but the 40 hour week was in place 30 years earlier. Of course now we have the situation where you have to have two full time earners to run a household. When I was at highschool in the 90s, I was quite unusual in having two working parents. My best friend for most of high school had a stay at home dad, who looked after him and his younger brother, my other close friend has a stay at home mom. That was fine, as house prices were still in the c. 4 time average income range. It's the other way round now, where house prices are in the c. 8 times average income range, so it's rare to find anyone with a single income family, and UK society subsidises the two income lifestyle and childcare industry -- you get tax breaks for sending your 1 year old to nursery 50 hours a week, but not for asking a grandparent to look after them, or even reduce your hours so (god forbid) the parents can look after them.
- Consultant32452 8y ago
  There's a good joke in there about women joining the work force to get away from their husbands who were now home more with that 40 hour work week.
watwut 8y ago
In middle and upper class. Poor people had to work all the time and that often included small children. Fun fact I gathered:30% of Victorian workforce were women, because social situation was that. (There were also high levels of prostitution).