Canadians prefer more condensed working hours

In his 1930 essay "Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren," economist John Maynard Keynes wrote that a 15-hour work week was almost inevitable in Western societies within 100 years. This dream has all but vanished in 2018. A new study from the Angus Reid Institute finds that 47 percent of Canadians say that...

In his 1930 essay “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren,” economist John Maynard Keynes wrote that a 15-hour work week was almost inevitable in Western societies within 100 years. This dream has all but vanished in 2018. Forty-seven percent of Canadians think moving to a 30-hour work week is a good idea, according to a new study from the Angus Reid Institute. Only 31 percent—less than half the total in the 1950s and ’60s—say the opposite. 

Also, 68 percent say that if they have to keeping working 40 hours a week, they’d prefer to condense it into four 10-hour shifts rather than five eight-hour segments. This represents a 25-point rise in the proportion of Canadians who said the same in 1981.