Work isn’t working – but a four-day week would help fix it | Will Stronge
Our current political moment is defined by a state of paralysis. By refusing to face the reality of a broken economic model, reactionary forces are driving us towards a future based on exclusion, continued deregulation and the scrapping of workers' rights. Instead of conceding to this "inevitable" race to the bottom, progressive forces of all kinds need to meet the crises of the 21st century head-on by putting forward proposals that tangibly improve people's lives.
As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has demonstrated in the US with the green new deal, fresh proposals can change political and economic narratives so as to embrace collective opportunity, potentially avert catastrophe and move us towards sustainable futures. What will make up our "new deal" here in the UK? A new report by Autonomy - a thinktank of which I am co-director - argues that a shorter working week should be a central pillar of our economic future.
Related: 'Miserable staff don't make money': the firms that have switched to a four-day week
Related: Post-work: the radical idea of a world without jobs
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