From the Brookings report, by Sawhill & Guyot, I was most struck by this:
"Other advanced countries have done much better. The average American worker spends 200 to 400 more hours at work over the course of the year than workers in most European countries. That’s an extra four to 10 weeks of work. This gap is due to a combination of lower weekly hours and more weeks of leave in other countries."
Five years ago after giving birth to my first (and currently only) kiddo, I was job hunting and found a workplace that explicitly prioritized a family/friends/community-first philosophy. Our ED, critically, models what this looks like. He takes time off when his kids need him, basically never works more than 35 hours, takes a month off in the summer, doesn't respond to messages on vacation (unless very urgent). We're also essentially fully remote, with staff scattered across the country and several international folks as well. It's made it so much easier to be present with my kid!
I was convinced before, but working here (and being more productive than ever) I am entirely convinced that shortening the work day and work week would solve a lot of our problems. And more generally, we need to eliminate the idea that more time equals more productivity.
A few ways that we can go about that:
* unionization to raise wages and contractually decrease hours (our workplace is unionized) - also passing legislation that makes it easier to unionize!
* passing legislation that raises the minimum wage
* passing legislation that guarantees paid time off (minimum of a month)
* passing predictive scheduling laws so folks know when they're working (like the Schedules that Work Act)
More broadly, companies should stop prioritizing short term profits over long term success. Zeynep Ton has written about this extensively, but basically if you create good jobs you create good companies. And good jobs let people be present with their families.
Thanks for commenting! I agree completely that employers should prioritize supporting families with young children. It’s not altruistic - it’s good for both families and companies. I also hope that we can make policy choices (both in government and by employers) that support families that want to have a parent at home. Larger families, families with an ill, disabled or otherwise special needs child, and families where one parent works a very demanding job (such as military, shipping, trucking, many jobs in medicine, etc.) sometimes really need a stay-at-home parent.
From the Brookings report, by Sawhill & Guyot, I was most struck by this:
"Other advanced countries have done much better. The average American worker spends 200 to 400 more hours at work over the course of the year than workers in most European countries. That’s an extra four to 10 weeks of work. This gap is due to a combination of lower weekly hours and more weeks of leave in other countries."
Five years ago after giving birth to my first (and currently only) kiddo, I was job hunting and found a workplace that explicitly prioritized a family/friends/community-first philosophy. Our ED, critically, models what this looks like. He takes time off when his kids need him, basically never works more than 35 hours, takes a month off in the summer, doesn't respond to messages on vacation (unless very urgent). We're also essentially fully remote, with staff scattered across the country and several international folks as well. It's made it so much easier to be present with my kid!
I was convinced before, but working here (and being more productive than ever) I am entirely convinced that shortening the work day and work week would solve a lot of our problems. And more generally, we need to eliminate the idea that more time equals more productivity.
A few ways that we can go about that:
* unionization to raise wages and contractually decrease hours (our workplace is unionized) - also passing legislation that makes it easier to unionize!
* passing legislation that raises the minimum wage
* passing legislation that guarantees paid time off (minimum of a month)
* passing predictive scheduling laws so folks know when they're working (like the Schedules that Work Act)
More broadly, companies should stop prioritizing short term profits over long term success. Zeynep Ton has written about this extensively, but basically if you create good jobs you create good companies. And good jobs let people be present with their families.
Thanks for commenting! I agree completely that employers should prioritize supporting families with young children. It’s not altruistic - it’s good for both families and companies. I also hope that we can make policy choices (both in government and by employers) that support families that want to have a parent at home. Larger families, families with an ill, disabled or otherwise special needs child, and families where one parent works a very demanding job (such as military, shipping, trucking, many jobs in medicine, etc.) sometimes really need a stay-at-home parent.