Where a Six-Day Workweek Is What Workers Want

In a Pew Research survey, there was a vast chasm between European opinions of the Greek work ethic and how they perceived themselves. Whereas seven European nations thought the Germans were the most hardworking and trustworthy, only the Greek survey participants named themselves. Correspondingly, Greece was frequently named as least hardworking and least trustworthy by others, but not themselves:

The Length of the Workweek

Now, contradicting their European stereotype, Greece just passed a law legalizing, under specified conditions, the six-day workweek. With a 40 percent premium wage for the sixth day, it would boost earnings. In addition, extra work hours could offset Greece’s shrinking supply of skilled labor.

However, opponents pointed out that, at 1,886 annual hours, Greece already has one of the OECD’s (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) longest workweeks:

Our Bottom Line: Average Workday

Meanwhile, and probably more meaningfully, it helps to know the daily meaning of annual totals. For the United States, 1,811 reflects 8.01 hours a day for men and 7.41, women:

Then, we can also see averages for the U.S. civilian population, including the labor force and everyone not in it. (For that reason, the average workday hours are far less than for the labor force):

And finally, recalling the impact of Covid on where we work, we should note where the length of the workweek takes place. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average was 5.1 hours for each day at home and 7.9 a day, at the workplace:

My sources and more: Thanks to the NY Times and NPR for inspiring today’s post. For starters, it reminded me of the Pew stereotypes survey. Then, we needed to take a look at the actual stats. But for still more, do take a look at our post on the pros and cons of the four-day week.