ITV debate: Audience laugh at Corbyn’s four-day week proposal
In the lead-up to the general election in December 2019, Labour had announced planed plans to cut the working week to four days each week within a decade if they came into power. During the Labour Party conference in Brighton in September 2019, then-Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell promised the policy could be achieved with no reduction in pay for workers. He claimed Britons were working some of the longest hours in Europe – according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, the average working week was 37.1 hours in 2018.
But at the time, critics told Express.co.uk the four-day week plan would “tank” the economy, “cripple” firms and cost more than £10billion each year.
The Spanish Government recently announced the trial of a three-year pilot programme that would reduce the working week to four days without employees’ salary being affected. This is expected to involve around 200 companies and between 3,000 and 6,000 workers.
The Government will initially pay for the one day of work not done but there is a growing feeling this financial support will only be a temporary measure will be boosted to the point whereby the change will effectively pay for itself.
But a survey of 13 young investment bankers employed by Goldman Sachs in New York revealed they often worked 100-hour weeks, impacting their health and relationships.
Jeremy Corbyn’s dream of a four-day week could be edging closer, but it has come with a warning (Image: GETTY)
Labour had announced planed plans to cut the working week to four days each week within a decade (Image: GETTY)
Roger Bootle, chairman of research consultancy Capital Economics, wrote in the Daily Telegraph: “In the UK, in the mid-19th century, the average working week was about 59 hours. It now stands at about 32 hours.
“Nor is this all about a reduction in the number of hours worked each day.
“Not so long ago, it was common for quite a few employees to work on Saturdays, and holidays were much shorter than they are now.
“What has enabled this reduction in working hours and the concomitant increase in time available for other activities is a large increase in productivity.
DON’T MISS: AstraZeneca blanks EU letter about vaccine complaints
John McDonnell had promised the policy could be achieved with no reduction in pay for workers (Image: GETTY)
“This allowed us to take the benefit wholly in increased income and consumption, or, at the other extreme in reduced working hours, or some mixture of the two.
“Not unreasonably, on average, people have chosen a middle path whereby they have been able to enjoy both increased income (and hence consumption) and more time away from work.
“I see no reason why this trend should stop. On the contrary, I suspect that people will continue to give a high weight to having more free time and accordingly average working hours will continue to fall.”
But Mr Bootle also cast huge doubt over such a plan, warning employees will have to give up some of their income to make it work.
DON’T MISS
BBC removes online Prince Philip form as complaints hit peak [REPORT]
Corbyn deletes Tweet after backlash in wake of Prince Philip death [COMMENT]
Corbyn challenged Queen as he questioned size of Royal Family [ANALYSIS]
The introduction of a four-day working week is possible, an expert has said (Image: GETTY)
An expert has warned employees would pay the price financially for a four-day week (Image: GETTY)
He said: “What marks out the Spanish experiment is the hope that the change will stimulate productivity so much that it will be self-financing.
“It would be nice to believe this, but I suspect that for most areas of employment, things won’t work out this way at all. On the contrary,
“I would expect output to fall pretty much in line with the reduction in working hours and accordingly for costs to rise. This is more or less what happened when Sweden tried something similar in 2015.
“This doesn’t mean that the idea of only working four days a week is bonkers, simply that we will have to sacrifice income in order to do it.”
Mr Bootle said this sacrifice “will be easier if it is made against a backdrop of rising incomes, adding: “In that case, the sacrifice might simply be in relation to the extra income that we could have earned, rather than in relation to the income that we have been accustomed to earning.
“As a result, such a move will probably be gradual – just like the long decline in average working hours from the 19th century to today.”
But he also warned: “I suspect that for most professionals, and especially those in highly competitive client-facing roles, it will be difficult to restrict working hours through measures enacted by employers.
“This is particularly true given the blurred boundaries between the home and the office, resulting in people spending large amounts of their working time at home and even being available for work-related telephone calls and emails when they are supposed to be at leisure.
“Do these long hours impair the professionals’ productivity? I have long believed that this must be true, at least at the margin, especially when sleep deprivation is involved.
“But, just as with the Spanish test case, I doubt that reducing bankers’ hours would actually increase their total output.”
