Dear readers, this week we asked whether shorter workweeks could become a permanent thing.
The pandemic has forced into the open certain fallacies about the way work life is structured. And as the coronavirus crisis reshapes our beliefs around work, it may open up the conversation to one policy which has fallen by the wayside in America: a shorter, four-day, 32-hour workweek.
The United States has long resisted a more flexible work culture. In response to the pandemic, companies such as TripAdvisor and publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, as well as cities such as Strongsville, Ohio, have switched to four-day weeks but with pay reductions (in addition to furloughs or layoffs in some cases).
For most workers, however, especially those with low incomes or struggling to afford the basics, clocking fewer hours for less pay is not a feasible option. That’s why some climate and labor activists advocate a post-pandemic path that reduces the workweek while providing a just, livable wage.
As Juliet Schor, a sociology professor at Boston College, told writer Clio Chang: “The pandemic gives us an opening to talk about what kind of work is really needed."
What do you think? We'd love to hear from you. Cheers, Laura, Amanda and Kyla | 
