Could Long Covid lead to the rise of a four-day work-week? | Greg Frey

A shorter work-week would reduce carbon emissions, make life easier for parents and people with illnesses or disabilities, and generally make people happier

Alongside being constantly exhausted, in pain and out of breath, one of the hardest things about having long Covid is finding self-worth outside the world of work. I'm one of nearly 2 million people in the UK and 20 million in the US now facing this challenge. It's one that other disabled people know well: our culture glorifies work, often at the expense of health. Remember all those dreams of change we entertained at the start of the pandemic? Now I'm wondering: could Covid-19's long tail usher in a deeper shift away from our work-obsessed culture?

The time is right for one. Before the pandemic, we had already been working too long and too hard. British workers, for example, put in two and a half weeks more work per year than the average European, and half of our workplace absences are caused by stress, anxiety or depression. Meanwhile in the US, workers spend an extra four hours a week at work, with three-quarters of workers experiencing significant workplace stress.

Greg Frey writes about democracy, social movements and resistance in the anthropocene