3 ms·

I wonder what the effects would be of having 4-day weeks widely implemented in society. It may just not scale. My theory is that all perceived advantages will

I wonder what the effects would be of having 4-day weeks widely implemented in society. It may just not scale. My theory is that all perceived advantages will disappear once we all expect 3-day weekends, ie increased weekend travel lenght/ frequency or intensified efforts at our hobbies could end up draining more of our energy. For instance a 3-day "work weekend" could make starting and running a separate company or working a 2nd job much more doable. A 4 to 3 proportion in days can easily fit a 32h + 32h double workweek in one. Once that becomes the norm, retribution economics may reflect that, in a way that one-jobers would lose buying power due to an inflated 2-job workers economy. I feel productivity and work-life balance could be a zero-sum game.

lucideer 8y ago
You're describing a smaller minority than you think. Currently, there's 168 hours in the week in which one could almost theoretically work. Plenty of people do double-job but in reality they tend to be more low-income jobs where people are struggling to get by and need the 2nd to make ends meet. In reality, the majority don't overexert to make more money if their current income is sufficient; only an exceptional minority will do this. > one-jobers would lose buying power due to an inflated 2-job workers economy I find this conclusion odd, as I'm not sure what you feel is the issue here. We currently have wealth inequality anyway: it's not ideal/desirable but it's what we have. This wouldn't be a disimprovement (but won't happen anyway as I really don't think being a 2-jobber is as desirable as you make out: there's quite a lot of research to the contrary).
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  I believe GP is thinking about something similar that happened with number of working people per household. Few decades ago, you'd only have one breadwinner. Today, in developed countries, a home with only one breadwinner usually struggles.
- ojosilva 8y ago
  I think the desirability/need for a 2nd job increases as the number of job work hours decrease. Imagine you had a 2-day/wk job that pays half of what you make in a 40h/wk job. Would you mind having a 2nd job that pays the other half? Anyway, my point is that having more free hours will change how society behaves and colaborate and how the underlying economics work, therefore eliminating some of perceived advantages of a shorter work week.
  - lucideer 8y ago
    > Imagine you had a 2-day/wk job that pays ["half of what you make in a 40h/wk job"]. Would you mind having a 2nd job that pays the other half? Where "half of what you make in a 40h/wk job" ~= (a) enough, OR (b) not enough. If the answer is (a), then yes, I would mind. I would stick to 2 days. That answer is not only true for me, research has shown it to be true for the majority of people for a US value of "enough" = $75,000/household (possibly could be updated for inflation/cost of living but the point stands). You might be in the minority who wouldn't mind—in fact I suspect a disproportionate number of HNers may fall into that particular minority—but it's not true for most of the population.
chemmail 8y ago
I do a kinda 4ish work week. I do Mon Tue full day, halfish day wed (by appointment). Thur Fri full days, sat halfish also. Feels like a free day is always just a day away. For those really used to 5 days with a huge hump day, always feeling like friday is tomorrow is just a revelation.

lucideer 8y ago

You're describing a smaller minority than you think. Currently, there's 168 hours in the week in which one could almost theoretically work. Plenty of people do double-job but in reality they tend to be more low-income jobs where people are struggling to get by and need the 2nd to make ends meet. In reality, the majority don't overexert to make more money if their current income is sufficient; only an exceptional minority will do this. > one-jobers would lose buying power due to an inflated 2-job workers economy I find this conclusion odd, as I'm not sure what you feel is the issue here. We currently have wealth inequality anyway: it's not ideal/desirable but it's what we have. This wouldn't be a disimprovement (but won't happen anyway as I really don't think being a 2-jobber is as desirable as you make out: there's quite a lot of research to the contrary).

TeMPOraL 8y ago
I believe GP is thinking about something similar that happened with number of working people per household. Few decades ago, you'd only have one breadwinner. Today, in developed countries, a home with only one breadwinner usually struggles.
ojosilva 8y ago
I think the desirability/need for a 2nd job increases as the number of job work hours decrease. Imagine you had a 2-day/wk job that pays half of what you make in a 40h/wk job. Would you mind having a 2nd job that pays the other half? Anyway, my point is that having more free hours will change how society behaves and colaborate and how the underlying economics work, therefore eliminating some of perceived advantages of a shorter work week.
- lucideer 8y ago
  > Imagine you had a 2-day/wk job that pays ["half of what you make in a 40h/wk job"]. Would you mind having a 2nd job that pays the other half? Where "half of what you make in a 40h/wk job" ~= (a) enough, OR (b) not enough. If the answer is (a), then yes, I would mind. I would stick to 2 days. That answer is not only true for me, research has shown it to be true for the majority of people for a US value of "enough" = $75,000/household (possibly could be updated for inflation/cost of living but the point stands). You might be in the minority who wouldn't mind—in fact I suspect a disproportionate number of HNers may fall into that particular minority—but it's not true for most of the population.

chemmail 8y ago

I do a kinda 4ish work week. I do Mon Tue full day, halfish day wed (by appointment). Thur Fri full days, sat halfish also. Feels like a free day is always just a day away. For those really used to 5 days with a huge hump day, always feeling like friday is tomorrow is just a revelation.