In this publication, Lord Skidelsky outlines how working hours can be reduced in order to free up more time for leisure.
Over the last few years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the length of working time, leading to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell commissioning a report from political economist and crossbench peer Robert Skidelsky on the feasibility of reducing working hours.
Giving an overview of the history of reductions in working time, Robert Skidelsky’s report notes that the trend of steadily declining working hours has stalled since the 1980s. He contends that this is because the ‘virtuous circle’ of full employment, high investment, productivity growth, real wage growth and strong trade unions has been brought to an end.
His report calls for a target to reduce working time in the public sector to a 35-hour week over ten years, and provision for shorter hours in government procurement contracts. Alongside this, the report urges that hours reduction should be a conscious objective of social and economic policy.