Work does not make you free

A group of economists believes the working week should be reduced from an average of 40 hours to just 30.

Anna Coote, head of social policy at the New Economic Forum think-tank, which compiled the research, explained: “Having too little time to call our own can seriously damage our health and well-being, our family life, friendships and communities. No one should be made to work long and unsocial hours to make ends meet.”

The spare time could also be used to care for the elderly, an ever-growing issue as the ageing population increases, it suggests.

A quarter of all sick days taken are due to work-related problems, especially stress and mental illness.  A recent survey by the European Depression Association found one in four British workers has been diagnosed with stress or depression. A recent survey for Canada Life insurance group found that a third of British workers said they would go to work even if they had the flu and 93 per cent believed a cold was no longer a reasonable excuse to stay at home.

The report says: “People have been working long hours to earn money to buy stuff that’s made and used in ways that inflict profound and irreversible damage on the ecosystem on which all life depends. It’s clear that time, money, consumer goods and planetary boundaries are interdependent. That’s a very good reason to think again about time and to change the way we value and use it, whether it is traded or not. Time is not just money. It is far more precious than that.”

All SOYMB can say about this report, what took them so long considering Paul Lafargue, Karl Marx’s son-in-law, wrote The Right to be Lazy in 1883. As politicians like to say - too little, too late.