Source: Debitize
Who wouldn’t want to work less for more? That’s exactly what Alfie Stirling, head of economics for the New Economics Foundation (NEF), and Sarah Arnold, a senior economist for the NEF, are suggesting with their latest research. Both theorize that by having the average employee work less hours, pay will go up and unemployment will go down; therefore, improving the overall economy. Sounds great! Yet, is it really that simple? According to Stirling and Arnold, there are two reasons they believe their research is spot on.
Key to growing overall demand is to maintain overall pay in the economy despite lowering average hours. One way to achieve this could be by reducing statutory hours in a way that also protects gross pay.
Alfie Sterling and Sarah Arnold
The first reason boils down to the fact that while we partake in our leisure time, we usually spend money on expensive activities which stimulate the economy. So the more often we have off, the more often we’ll spend money. The second reason is essentially if employees were to work less hours, that unclaimed time would need to be reallocated to someone else. This would therefore create more job opportunities for the unemployed, allow those people to the enter the market as new steady consumers, and further stimulate the economy. More pay, less hours, better economy. What are we waiting for people? Let’s get to it!
The very brilliant Alfie Stirling and Sarah Arnold go into far greater detail than I have. For the full juicy piece, you can click right here. It certainly makes for an interesting read and makes for some tantalizing daydreaming material.
