Forty Hours of This One Thing per Week can Kill You.

 Forty Hours of This One Thing per Week can Kill You. 

Here’s What You Need to Know About the 40 Hour Workweek

Diego Zibell

The typical, standard American works, on average, 34.4 hours per week. For people aged 25-54 however, the workweek consists of an average of 40.5 hours. This is the norm. What society has set up and what our economy deems is necessary to continue functionality and efficiency, but what if that's all wrong?  

The concept of a 5-6 day, 40+ hour workweek is stale and exhausted. Lessening the days or hours of work per week would lessen the misery of working-class citizens, improve productivity, and overall aid economic growth. 

Health and happiness are two factors that contribute extensively to the success of an economy. Working long hours and a packed work week heavily contributes to stress and unhappiness in workers. This in turn causes them to be less productive and lower the quality of their work. According to Cleveland Clinic, 5 common side effects of working too much include lack of sleep, not eating enough food throughout the day, lack of physical activity and exercise (especially in the cases of sedentary jobs), the neglection of relationships, and turning to unhealthy coping methods like drugs or alcohol. Another issue raised in this scenario is that turning to a coping method like alcohol causes the consumption of demerit goods. They create a negative externality because the harmful societal cost is vast while the profit is private, further harming the economy. 

Additionally, a study conducted by WHO (World Health Organization) and the International Labor Organization determined that working long hours (around 55 per week) is very common and can cause high attributable burdens to stroke and heart disease. Another example of the issue with high working hours is that the U.K. government reported that stress, depression, and anxiety are about 51% of all work-related health cases and 55% of all working days lost. When workers begin to suffer as a result of working long hours, it reduces the amount of time they can work, and maybe even willing to work if the consequences become too severe. This lowers the amount of work that employees can do and also the quality of the work that is performed.  

Although high working hours negatively affect health and happiness which can decrease productivity, how do they directly affect productivity?  

When discussing productivity a very important aspect is how often workers cannot attend work or how often they do work (part-time vs. full-time). Part-time workers are more productive hour-for-hour than full-time workers (Stillman 1). This indicates how part-time workers, who normally work significantly less than full-timers, benefit from working less and can work more efficiently. Sick leave and being absent can often be caused by working long hours and also having to balance working and domestic duties. As stated above, working long hours can have many effects on health, and sick employees are much less productive than healthy ones, further lowering productivity.   

According to a study conducted in 2017, call center agents were found to take longer to handle calls towards the end of the day which lowered the overall productivity of the call center. Additionally, when a car service station switched its workweek from 40 hours to 30 hours, the mechanics increased their productivity by 14% and the total profits rose by 25% (Coote 1). The relationship between productivity and hours worked is also supported by the data collected by the OECD which is presented on the graph shown below:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/03/does-working-fewer-hours-make-you-more-productive/  

The loss of productivity caused by overworking is bad for the economy for multiple reasons. A loss of productivity can cause supply to lessen because workers are not producing as much output which in turn lowers the goods supplied. If demand is high for goods but the supply is low, it causes a shortage and moves the market to disequilibrium. This then causes the equilibrium price to rise which hurts consumers because it costs them more money to purchase the goods which also increases their propensity to consume.   

Solely based on these reasons, it's clear that lowering the average hours worked per week would decrease adverse health effects caused by overworking, increase happiness, and increase productivity in the workplace. This greatly helps with economic growth because increased productivity and happiness increase output which increases supply and can fulfill the quantity demanded when it comes to specific goods or markets. Overall, the multiple benefits that would come from shortening the workweek, especially in terms of the workers, seem to make the change beneficial for the future of most economies. 

Works Cited

“5 Side Effects of Working Too Much.” Cleveland Clinic, 26 Oct. 2021, health.clevelandclinic.org/effects-of-working-too-much/.

Stillman, Jessica. “30-Hour Work Week: The Key to a Healthier Economy.” Inc.com, Inc., 4 Nov. 2013, www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/create-a-better-economy-work-less.html.

“The Time For a Four-Day Work Week Has Arrived.” In These Times, inthesetimes.com/article/four-day-work-week-economy-covid-climate.

“What Is The Average Work Hours Per Week In The US?” Zippia, www.zippia.com/advice/average-work-hours-per-week/#:~:text=The average American works 34.4,on household responsibilities, on average.

Written by Emma Luxton. “Does Working Fewer Hours Make You More Productive?” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/03/does-working-fewer-hours-make-you-more-productive