Is Working Less Hours the Key to a Better Life?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Why are more Americans experimenting with part-time work after the pandemic?
Here's your money briefing for Wednesday, April 5th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. More Americans are ditching the 40-hour workweek and working part-time instead. To answer the question, would their lives be happier if they worked less?
What data shows a shift away from the 40-hour workweek and who is doing it?
Work serves a purpose in our lives. It gives us structure. It gives us purpose and self-esteem. There was a finding from a professor I talked to who found that we don't need that much of it to get that benefit, but we do need that.
We'll talk to WSJ Work and Life columnist Rachel Feinzig after the break.
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How are people filling extra nonworking hours—family time, errands, or hobbies?
They want your identity. They want your innovation. ReliaQuest fortifies your business with agentic defense, AI that detects, contains, and eliminates cyber threats in minutes. It helps your security team move faster at the work that matters most to protect the business now and delivers insights to help them predict what's next. ReliaQuest, agentic defense for the enterprise. Learn more at ReliaQuest.com.
What did the U.K. four-day workweek experiment reveal about worker satisfaction?
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Americans who've reached their limit with long hours are experimenting with working less, a lot less. WSJ Work and Life columnist Rachel Feinzig joins us with more. Hey, Rachel, thanks very much for being with us. Thanks so much for having me. So, Rachel, we've heard from a lot of people over the past several years that the pandemic caused them to reconsider their work commitments. But how much of a trend has this become?
I think it's a real trend. There's data showing that high-earning men have pulled back on their work hours. We've also seen the number of Americans working part-time voluntarily, so that's for non-economic reasons, rise over the last year. And then we've had this experiment with a four-day work week, which has really been taking place in the UK, but they've had a lot of success over there. And I think it's caused a lot of companies and individuals here in the U.S. to think, wow, my life would be really great if I had a three-day weekend every week.
And so how are people who are working less in the U.S. filling out their days?
How can reduced hours backfire when employees stay digitally connected to work?
I think some people are using it as an opportunity to spend more time with their kids. Sometimes that can devolve into child care, which I think a lot of researchers say is not exactly what we want to see here. The idea is that you're kind of spending less time on work, whether that's caregiving responsibilities or actual paid labor outside of the house. So you want to be spending time on things like hobbies or volunteer efforts. There's also this idea that you could maybe spend that time doing errands, all the logistical stuff of being an adult, you know, that needs to be done that we often spend our weekends doing, and that can free up more time on weekends for us to just, like, be happy and do things we actually enjoy.
You know, Rachel, you mentioned the four-day workweek experiment in the U.K. That got a lot of publicity. What are we hearing from workers who participated in that?
A chunk of them say that there is no amount of money that would prompt them to go back to five days a week. Overall, people have been happy.
What are the financial trade-offs and hidden costs of working fewer hours?
And I think many people and bosses feel like folks have been productive. I think some of the research coming out of that shows that, you know, these are people who hadn't really thought about doing a four-day workweek and were really surprised to find how much they liked it.
Now, some people will cut back on their work hours, but are they really separated from work, you know, given all the connected devices we have?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:33
2
Why are more Americans experimenting with part-time work after the pandemic?
0:33–0:49
3
What data shows a shift away from the 40-hour workweek and who is doing it?
0:49–1:20
4
How are people filling extra nonworking hours—family time, errands, or hobbies?
1:20–1:41
5
What did the U.K. four-day workweek experiment reveal about worker satisfaction?
1:41–2:50
6
How can reduced hours backfire when employees stay digitally connected to work?
2:50–3:46
7
What are the financial trade-offs and hidden costs of working fewer hours?
3:46–5:15
8
How do people adjust psychologically to having more free time and find purpose?
5:15–7:11
Speakers
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