The most popular idea that won't be in Wednesday's throne speech? A four day work week
It’s a wildly popular idea that enjoys bipartisan support across Canada. It might be the only policy supported by both the right-leaning Fraser Institute and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
The four-day work week is enjoying a moment in the sun as the COVID-19 pandemic forces people around the world to consider how they work and spend leisure time. But don’t expect to see it in Wednesday’s Speech from the Throne.
Asked about the idea in June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t exactly give it an enthusiastic endorsement.
“I think there are a lot of people thinking creatively about what the post-COVID world could look like. And I look forward to hearing a wide range of suggestions,” said Trudeau said. “But right now, we’re very much focused on getting through this particular crisis.”
The Fraser Institute says with increased productivity, Canadians could easily maintain or increase their quality of life while working fewer days.
“A four-day work week, which produces the same or higher material living standard for Canadians, simply requires a return to an annual rate of labour productivity growth that, until fairly recently, was more the norm than an exception,” the Fraser Institute reported .
“Canadian workers in 2030 could work a four-day work week year-round while enjoying a higher material standard of living than they enjoyed in 2018,” the report reads.
Sanders, the democratic socialist, agreed.
“Shortening the workweek is certainly one idea that we have got to look at,” he said.
The idea for a four-day work week gained steam earlier in the year, when New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it as a mechanism to give workers more flexibility in their lives and boost the country’s productivity.
But as Ardern and many experts have noted, it’s an idea that would likely have to be worked out between employees and employers and not necessarily something the government would legislate.
An opinion poll conducted in June by the Angus Reid Institute soon found that Canadians are increasingly supportive of the move, though. Two years ago, 47 per cent said they supported a four-day work week compared to 53 per cent this year.
Only 22 per cent of Canadians said they disapproved of the idea, with 25 per cent saying they weren’t sure about it.
Support is highest among women aged 18 to 34, with 65 per cent saying it is a good idea. Men aged 55 and older are the least likely to say it is a good idea, with only 39 per cent approving of it.
The report by the Angus Reid Institute noted that support for the idea spiked eight percentage points among people who had received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is also a litany of research backing up the idea that reducing the work week boosts productivity.
Microsoft experimented last year with a pilot project in Japan that allowed workers an extra day off each week and found that productivity jumped 40 per cent. The company closed its offices on Fridays and gave its employees paid leave for the day.
In further morale-boosting efforts, the company also imposed a strict 30-minute time limit on meetings.
Research has also shown that people who work longer hours tend to perform poorly. A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that working more than 55 hours was correlated with lower scores in vocabulary and reasoning tests, compared to people who worked 40 hours.
A recent report on leisure time showed the United States and Canada lagging behind other wealthy nations in how much time off its workers enjoy. Among OECD nations, Canadians work the fourth most hours without seeing any real productivity gains compared to countries like Germany, where the average person works hundreds fewer hours each year.
The demand for a four day work week is turning into a global movement. A global study of eight countries found 54 per cent support for a shorter work week and only 28 per cent of people expressing satisfaction with the status quo.
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