Four day working week's effects on work-life balance: An intersectionality perspective between gender and income
When:
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Venue:
Birkbeck Central
The Portuguese Government backed a 4-Day Working Week trial by offering training and research support to 21 private-sector organisations. These organisations voluntarily implemented a 4-day working week with an effective reduction in weekly hours and with no pay-cuts. The trial started in June 2023. The extensive data collection included employee and employer-level data, plus a comparison with a control group of companies where no work-time reduction was implemented. We focus specifically on the differential effects of the work-time reduction for people of different genders and levels of income. When asked about how much they value a 4-day week as a percentage of their salaries, women and those with a lower income valued it above 30% of their salaries, which is significantly higher than for men and for those with a higher income who valued it around 20%. We also look at gender differences in terms of the stronger impact of a four-day week on women’s work-life balance. We discuss these results focusing on whether a 4-day week would generate more gender and overall social equity.
Speaker
Rita Fontinha (Henley Business School, UK)
Contact name: Wendy Tuxworth
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