Does the 40-hour work-week actually work?

The early 1900s – and long before – had no labor standard. Some people worked 10 to 14 hours a day, six days a week, and this was often considered normal or necessary. 

Automotive industry mogul Henry Ford – with the help of his son Edsel Ford – proposed the idea of the eight hour, five day work week in 1922. 

This idea was considered revolutionary for the time and the new standard created room for families to spend time together and allowed workers to have Saturday and Sunday off for – in the words of Henry Ford – “rest and recreation.”

‍The Literary Digest mentioned a quote from The New York Herald: “The Ford plan is joyous news to all who like to think of bringing work down to the irreducible minimum, later we shall have a thirty-hour week, then a twenty-hour week. Perfectly fascinating.”

By 1938 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labour Standards Act, which federally established overtime pay and, later on, the five-day, eight-hour work-week.

But after almost 100 years, the less-than-40 hour work-week is nothing but inconceivable and is still considered just a fascination. 

According to Pew Research Center, “only about half of U.S. workers say they are extremely or very satisfied with their job overall…” and even then, many of those who claimed they were satisfied with their job were paid more on average. 

Personally, I found myself sobbing at the front doors of previous workplaces simply because I could not handle one more day suffering the tedium and stress of my underpaid 40 hour work-week or 12 hour labor intensive shifts, only to come home and still have to work to take care of myself, my responsibilities and my home. 

The average work day is said to be equally split: Eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep, and eight hours for recreation. 

I guess that makes the 40 hour work week equal – but we are no longer in the era of begging for the simple request of equality; we can now demand equity. 

According to Bankrate, the average one-way commute time for Anchorage is 19.3 minutes but this does not include commuting by bicycle or public transportation, which often has a longer travel time. But this is not the only work minded task that begins each morning. 

Preparing for work starts the moment the deafening phone alarm awakens the sleep-deprived employee. Shuffling to the shower, eating breakfast, getting kids ready for school – anything done before work is strained for time.

When finally getting home, people have to choose between losing hard-earned money to order takeout, or spend the next hour and a half making dinner. 

So how should the United States government go about reforming the work-week?

The 10-hour day, four-day a week work schedule is probably the most common solution to the labor issue. Three day weekends allows the employee to take care of the home for one day and leaves the additional two free days for leisure. 

But a 10-hour work day can be quite exhausting itself, especially since lunches are often unpaid, lasting between 30 minutes and an hour. This solution means an even longer day – up to 11 hours – at work. 

Customized schedules are common for college students and offer the freedom to decide when they would like to work and for how long.

Customized schedules can also become relatively hard to manage, creating a chaotic work schedule for major corporations.

In my opinion, the hardest to imagine but the most ethical solution to the labor issue is a working environment where employees are paid enough to live comfortably working 20 to 30 hours a week.

Many of us may curse Henry Ford’s name in the height of a stressful work day, but our current employers should be held accountable for evolving economic and labor standards.

When arguing for the 40-hour work week, Ford’s son, Edsel Ford said, according to the Library of Congress Blog, “The goal cannot be fully realized at once.” 

I understand that even today, “the goal cannot be fully realized at once” but we must begin the conversation on conserving the average working-class, underpaid and undervalued communities.