Bernie Sanders’ 32-hour work week should be the new normal
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The average American will spend almost 90,000 hours working in their lifetime. Our jobs take up a third of our entire life.
The 40-hour work week has been the standard for full-time employees in the United States for decades since it became federal law in 1940, but many have noticed that this schedule leaves little time for family, friends and self-care. In response to this, Senator Bernie Sanders recently proposed the implementation of a 32-hour work week over a four-year period.
Sanders’ support of a 32-hour week, which would come without any decreases in pay or benefits, is centered around the idea that while Americans are more productive than ever, wages and work-life balance are at a low in the U.S. American full-time employees work 400 more hours than most of our European counterparts and other industrialized nations while falling behind in terms of mental well-being.
In the 2024 World Happiness Report, Generation Z and millennial Americans scored lower than the country’s older generations. Whether they’re entering the workforce or a few years in, young Americans feel a sense of hopelessness, depression and anxiety. As a whole, the U.S ranked 23rd, much lower than the rest of the industrialized world.
Sanders’ proposal cites a pilot program conducted in the United Kingdom – which currently ranks higher than the U.S. in the World Happiness Report – where several companies operated under a four-day work week, resulting in overall improvement in mental and physical health of workers.
Sanders is far from the first to speak out in favor of a shortened work week. Back in 1956, then-Vice President Richard Nixon advocated for a four-day work week that could allow American families to spend more time together and less time working.
Sanders’ legislation is also backed by several members of Congress, including Representative Mark Takano, who said many Americans are “reimagining their relationship to labor” and should be able to live fulfilling lives outside of work.
Following the pandemic, people became acutely aware of the 40-hour work week’s toll as they returned to offices and other in-person tasks. Today, some Americans would prefer an improved work-life balance over a higher salary.
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As the newest members of the workforce, Generation Z makes up much of this conversation. By next year, Gen Z will compose almost 30% of the workforce. As we immerse ourselves into the job market, the majority of Gen Z sees work-life balance as a major priority when looking at jobs with factors like company ethics and job security trailing right behind.
Kayla Jones, a graduate student in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University, will start working eight-and-a-half hours for five days a week this summer. While she has always had an interest in the tech field, she’s concerned about finding time for her interests outside of work.
“An extra day would allow me to not be solely focused on work throughout the week and have time for work, dance and other activities,” Jones said. “Most people, myself included, find themselves unproductive and checked out by Friday anyways.”
Feelings of burnout by the end of the week are common among full-time employees. The majority of workers believe a four-day work week would boost productivity and allow them to devote more time to family and other household responsibilities. At the same time, the U.K. study found that the shortened work week, according to the participating employers, resulted in no lost productivity.
Lucio Maffei, a senior studying political philosophy and ethics, will be attending law school in the fall with plans to become a public defender. Like Jones, he’s worried about work-life balance and what it will look like in the future.
“Law is a very grueling and overworked profession and is known to have an overextended work week,” Maffei said. “Many companies ignore employee concerns over balance. With technology and remote work options, there should absolutely be conversations around and room for more flexibility and balance.”
It’s important to realize that we are all people outside of our work who have family, friends, hobbies, hopes and interests. What you do for a living should not prevent you from pursuing your passions and being with who you love. While one’s job can and should be a fulfilling and important aspect of your life, it should not be everything or all-consuming – we work to live, we should not live to work.
Shortening the work week, even just by eight hours, allows for work to not be the sole focus of one’s life.
Kaitlyn Paige is a junior studying Public Relations. Her column appears bi-weekly, and she can be reached at kipaige@syr.edu.
