We don't need bread – let's get a job!
A shortened working day does not bring happiness
based on the materials of the Journal of Happiness Studies:
Robert Rudolf, Work Shorter, Be Happier? Longitudinal Evidence from the Korean Five-Day Working PolicyThe new study is likely to please workaholics.
According to the results obtained, fewer hours spent at work does not add joy to everyday life.
The study examined the impact of a decade-long reform to reduce the working day in South Korea on the emotional state of workers and employees in this country. It turned out that although people were happy to work less, the reform did not have any significant impact on their lives or greater satisfaction from work. The innovation involved reducing the hours spent at work from 44 to 40 during the week. In addition, Saturday was officially recognized as a non-working day.
The author of the study, assistant Professor of economics from the Graduate School of International Studies at Korea University Robert Rudolph notes that many companies, pursuing this state policy, went to the trick. Due to the fact that the amount of work has not changed, workers and employees, even though they spent less time at the workplace, were forced to work more intensively. Often, the reduction of hours in the working week was compensated by the reduction of vacations.
The study involved only people who are officially married or couples with children living in a civil marriage. It was found out that women were more satisfied with the fact of reducing working hours, because they could pay more attention to traditional family responsibilities – child care, household chores. Men reacted to the innovation more calmly and used additional free time for leisure and recreation.
Robert Rudolph concluded that the length of the working week is not as closely related to personal happiness as it may seem, and that the positive effects of shortening the working day could only be provided by less intensive work under a reduced scheme, which, under pressure from employers, did not become such.
At the same time, since the study focused only on a certain category – South Korean couples with children, it is clear that the conclusions drawn cannot apply to every employee in the world.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru23.08.2013