Question

Briefly discuss the change in hours of work over the last century. What do you predict the typical hours of work/yr will be when you are 40? Give assumptions.

Answer 1

The balance between work and leisure is very important. A person either works or enjoys leisure, with the change in working hours greatly affecting  the amount of leisure enjoyed. Changes in the working hours over the last century have been discussed below, with the context of the discussion revolving around the United States.

In the 1800s, it is said that most of the Americans used to work for around 70 hours in a week. However, this created a kind of frenzy among people and became a political agenda, leading to a fall in the working hours. This declining trend reduced the working hour from 70 hours to 60 hours and soon to 50 hours. In the 21st century, working hours have reduced to 40 hours a week.

Assume that this declining trend is still there, the working hours can be expected to reduce further. Currently, working 8 hours, 5 days a week is in vogue. However, many people are believing this trend to change. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, recently said that this 5-days working trend needs to change soon. He even proposed a 4-day work week. With 4 work-days, 8 hours each, the working hours will drastically reduce to 32 hours. This will make the work hours much closer to 30 hours a week.

So, over a century, work hours have reduced from 70 hours a week to 40 hours a week. In the next 40 years, the working hours can be expected to reduce below the 30 hours a week or at least, somewhere around 30 hours.