A shorter working week as part of a green caring economy: feminist green new deal policy paper

In this report, we argue that a shorter working week, as part of a wider set of policy changes, can promote gender-equal distributions in paid work, unpaid work, and income, while facilitating a green transition. The paper analyses time-use data and evidence on the impact of Covid-19 on working patterns together with international case studies and makes a series of policy recommendations. We explore what other mechanisms are needed in order to ensure that a shorter working week and a green transition are equitable. Policy experiments in shorter working hours are ongoing, with trials for a four-day week currently being designed in Spain and Scotland, and employer trials beginning here in the UK. A shorter working week, in combination with an expansion in public social infrastructure and universal basic services, is an important measure to address the social and political consequences of dysfunctional health and social care systems, extreme inequality, and environmental breakdown