The climate crisis is forcing us to rethink our society. The transition toward climate justice is challenging, in part because the climate crisis is intertwined with other crises: political, social, and economic. This ongoing crisis mode raises fundamental questions: What does it take for a good life for all? What would life in a climate-just world look like? What would it feel like?
At the center of a climate-friendly society would be the needs of all people, not profits. The economy would revolve around caring for one another and our environment. Everyone would have access to housing, food, and health. We would have enough time for ourselves and our loved ones, for things we enjoy, and for a vibrant democracy. This utopia may seem distant in times of climate crisis and a shift to the right, but such visions are necessary to remind us what is worth fighting for. And it requires concrete building blocksthat we can combine to create a vision of society. One such building block is the collective reduction in working hoursReducing working hours for everyone to a four-day week and gradually to 28-25-20 hours is a crucial step toward climate justice because it creates space for negotiation over which jobs are truly important. Reducing working hours raises the question: What do we actually live for? Which jobs are essential for a good life for everyone? Which forms of work are not?
Unfairly distributed work
Work is often equated with gainful employment, while other forms of work, such as unpaid care work, often go unnoticed. Care work includes activities such as cleaning, caring for relatives, gardening, self-care, being there for others in emotional crises, and political engagement such as volunteering or activism. These jobs are socially necessary, even if they are often unpaid – without them, nothing would function. Without them, no one could start a shift in an office or business. Yet this work is often not recognized as work or fairly remunerated.
FLINTA* (women, lesbians, inter*, non-binary, trans*, and agender people) in particular perform the majority of this work. Studies on care work often act as if there were only two genders and rarely consider dimensions such as class, sexuality, immigration status, and experiences of racism. Worldwide, women perform 76,2 percent of all unpaid care work (ILO, 2018). In Germany, women perform 79 minutes more unpaid care work per day than men, which amounts to 9 hours more per week (Federal Statistical Office, 2024aThis has an impact on who works how many hours: In Germany, 40 percent of women who care for relatives also work part-time. For women with children, the figure is as high as 67 percent. In contrast, only 4 percent of male caregivers do so, and for men with children, the figure is 9 percent (see Kochskämper et al. 2020; Federal Statistical Office, 2024bThis inequality, known as Gender Time Gap, has serious consequences: people who do a lot of unpaid care work are much more likely to be affected by poverty.
In professions such as elderly care, daycare centers and primary schools, the majority of workers are women and many LGBTQI* people (DIW, 2020These professions are structurally devalued and are often associated with poor working conditions and low wages. People in these professions often work part-time because the workload is so high. However, the unequal distribution of work and time is not limited to gender differences. Class, racism, and ableism also play a role. People who structural discrimination are often poorer and dependent on low-paid jobs. The situation is particularly precarious for people without a residence permit or work permit.
An example of particularly precarious working conditions is 24-hour care: Many people in need of care in Germany are cared for by Eastern European migrants, mostly women. They often work for low wages and with unlimited working hours. This leads to gaps in care within the families of these migrant caregivers. These gaps are often compensated for by older family members or other migrant caregivers. This creates cross-national “Global Care Chains” (Global Care ChainsInstead of redistributing care work between different genders and organizing it fundamentally differently, it is often outsourced to poorer, migrant women in countries of the Global North.
A collective reduction in working hours is therefore a question of social justice. It creates the opportunity to distribute work and time more fairly for everyone involved. A four-day workweek with full pay compensation could help redistribute unpaid care work and reduce the burden on employees, for example, in elderly care. This would particularly benefit FLINTA* and migrants, who perform the majority of this vital work.
Reducing working hours as a tool
Historically, workers have repeatedly campaigned for a reduction in working hours. 7-week strike by workers in the West German metal industry 1984 broke the 40-hour week: After lockouts and court proceedings, the workers won a reduction in their working week to 38,5 hours. It took another 11 years until employers agreed to the reduction to 35 hours in 1995. The collective bargaining negotiations between the train drivers' union and Deutsche Bahn are also leading to a gradual reduction in working hours to 35 hours per week with full pay compensation. Such struggles show that change is possible if enough pressure is applied.
For a sustainable, climate-friendly economy, we urgently need a collective, cross-sectoral reduction in working hours. Specifically, we propose collective reduction of working hours to 28 hours in a 4-day week with full wage and staff compensation With full Staff compensation This means that reducing working hours requires hiring more people. In concrete terms, this prevents people from working more intensively. In the longer term, we should aim for a reduction to 20 to 25 hours per week in order to redistribute work and available time even more.
More time for a good life: The 4-day week
A pilot project in Great Britain, in which around 60 companies introduced a 4-day week with full pay compensation, showed positive effects such as less stress and reduced burnout levels in consistent productivity (Frey, 2023). Less paid work also means more time for personal interests and self-care, which ultimately contributes to a higher quality of life. Furthermore, less paid work also opens up space for renegotiating the distribution and assumption of unpaid care work. A collective reduction in working hours not only leads to an improved quality of life and a redistribution of work, but is also necessary for a socio-ecological restructuring of the economyClimate-damaging sectors, such as the chemical industry, the fossil fuel sector, and the arms industry, must be dismantled and transformed. Instead, climate-friendly and vital sectors such as solidarity-based healthcare, resilient and ecological food systems, and local public transport should be expanded. This transformation can be promoted by reducing working hours.
Reducing working hours can help reduce the quantity of goods produced, leading to less resource consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions. This is good for the climate. When expanding care infrastructure such as daycare centers and hospitals, reducing working hours can help ensure that more people can perform this work long-term without burning out—partly because they would have more control over their time. And because the reduction in working hours should take place with full staffing levels. This is necessary if we want to focus on caring.
Less paid work also means more time for democratic participation and commitment. Our society thrives on people who get involved, in neighborhood initiatives, social centers, or sports clubs. But who has time for that? People who do a lot of unpaid care work in addition to their job hardly have any. Even people who work multiple jobs to make ends meet financially cannot devote the time to social engagement, not to mention that they no longer have the energy for it after a 40-hour week. Current crises such as high inflation or rising rents are exacerbating the financial situation for many and draining emotional resources. In addition to political measures, a reduction in working hours achieved by unions is also needed to address this. Appropriate conditions must be created so that everyone can meet their basic needs without burning out or being more affected by poverty. People need more free time to enrich society with their perspectives. Particularly in view of the rise of right-wing parties, spaces in which we can encounter each other respectfully and benevolently and learn from different realities of life are urgently needed. Also to connect and unite us. Such spaces require time.
Shaping a climate-friendly society
A collective reduction in working hours invites us to reflect on our own use of time and the hierarchical structure of different types of work. Which jobs are essential for a good life for everyone? How do we shape a society that focuses on the essentials of life?
To prioritize the lives and needs of people and living beings over profits, we must fundamentally renegotiate which jobs are important. A key element in this is a collective reduction in working hours, which opens up space for such discussions. A collective reduction in working hours is a concrete step toward Climate justiceBecause it can put care at the center of the economy. Placing care work at the center of the economy means we must drive forward the expansion of care infrastructures. Working conditions for people in paid care work must improve so that society's need for quality care can finally be met. And unpaid care work must be recognized as work, valued, and distributed more fairly. All of this requires a collective reduction in working hours with full staff and wage compensation.
The redistribution of work and time is long necessary and overdue. The norm of a 40-hour week is neither socially nor ecologically sustainable. We need a reduction in working hours for everyone in order to Gender equality and Climate justice Only through the redistribution of work and time can we move closer to a good life for everyone: a life in which everyone feels cared for and cared for, and not have to fear for their health and existence. Therefore, we want today, not someday: a 4-day week for everyone!
Sources
DIW (2020). DIW Weekly Report: LGBTQI* people in the labor market: highly educated and often discriminated against.
Frey, P. [Ed.] (2023). The Four-day week in the United KingdomThe results of the largest pilot project worldwide to date.
Global care chains: Blog post by OXI
IG Metall (2024). Legendary strike: The fight for the 35-hour week was so hard
International Labor Organization [ILO] (2018). Care Work and Care Jobs For the Future of Decent Work
Kochskämpfer, S., Neumeister, S. and Stockhausen, M. (2020) IW Trends 4/2020 Who provides care, when, and how much? A review of home care in Germany.
Federal Statistical Office (2024a). Where does the time go? Results on time use in Germany 2022
Federal Statistical Office (2024b). Part-time employment rate rose again slightly to 31% in 2023. Press Release No. N017 of 26 April 2024
This blog post was first published at nachhaltigejobs.de published.
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