Cut the working week to 20 hours... and it will BOOST growth
[ 2012-01-10 ]
People could spend more time bonding with one another and improving relationships
Get Flash PlayerWorking less hours each week will help boost the economy by creating more jobs and improving quality of life, according to a think tank.
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) will meet with other experts at an event in London this week to find a solution to unemployment, the credit crisis and reducing the country's
carbon footprint.
The NEF, which has organised the gathering with the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics, said their solution to the problem would be enforcing a 20-hour working week.
The foundation has previously suggested a similar strategy and said the move would mean people had more time to think about the effect they are having on the environment and that it would allow for job sharing.
It admitted that incomes would be reduced dramatically but argued individuals would have more time to carry out worthy tasks.
Parents could spend more time with their children or other dependents and there would be more opportunity to get involved with civic duties or charity work.
Anna Coote, co-author the report, told the Observer: 'There's a great disequilibrium between people who have got too much paid work, and those who have got too little or none.
'Are we just living to work, and working to earn, and earning to consume?'
She argued that the government needed to think about what constitutes economic success and whether aiming to boost Britain's GDP growth rate should be a priority.
The UK has the longest working week of any major European economy and economists believed, in time, that as technology improved people would be able to spend less time at work.
Parents of young children already have the right to request more flexible work hours but the NEF is keen to push the government to make this a right for everyone.
(Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)
(Agencies)
據(jù)某智囊機構(gòu)稱，減少每周工作時間有助于創(chuàng)造更多工作崗位，提升生活質(zhì)量，推動經(jīng)濟增長。
新經(jīng)濟基金會將在本周與其他專家在倫敦會面，商討失業(yè)、信貸危機以及減少國家
碳足跡等問題的解決辦法。
新經(jīng)濟基金會和倫敦政治經(jīng)濟學(xué)院的社會排斥分析中心組織了這次會議，他們提出的解決辦法是實行20小時工作周。
基金會以前曾提出過相似的對策，該組織稱，這個行動意味著人們有更多的時間思考他們對于環(huán)境的影響，也使工作得以共享。
該組織承認，人們收入會大大減少，但指出每個人都將有更多的時間來做更有價值的事情。
父母可以花更多的時間陪伴孩子和其它家屬，也有更多機會履行公民義務(wù)，參與慈善活動。
報告的合著者安娜?庫特告訴《觀察家報》說：“有些人承擔(dān)太多帶薪工作，有些人卻沒有工作或少得可憐，兩者之間存在著嚴(yán)重失衡?！?div style="height:15px;">
在歐洲主要經(jīng)濟體中，英國每周的工作時間是最長的。經(jīng)濟學(xué)家們認為，當(dāng)科技發(fā)展了，人們最終將能少花些時間在工作上。
