^{Cover photo by Caroline Schenck}

This dossier, published in November 2020, is an outcome of the writing workshop Ecological Economics, which was a cooperation between TU Berlin and Exploring Economics. Find more information and dossiers on this topic here.

Could Working Time Reduction Policies Save People and the Planet?

Authors: Patrick Léon Gross, Laura Wedemeyer, Caroline Schenck, and Bettina Chlond

Review: Gerrit von Jorck and Stefanie Gerold (TU Berlin)

The secret to transitioning to an economy that benefits both people and the planet could lie in a different appreciation, enactment, and regulation of time. By intervening with the societal distribution of daily, weekly, yearly, or life working time, working time reduction policies aim to redistribute the resource of time in ways that are more in tune with modern social and environmental needs. But while working time policies harbour great potential, they also touch upon delicate questions of power, poverty, gender, environmental justice, and technological change.

The dossier gives an excellent first insight into the working time reduction debate. The introduction grabs one's interest through relatable questions about time, such as its societal conceptions, its implications or its relation to personal well-being. The development of thoughts about the connection of working time reduction and its impact on the planet are coherent and nicely complemented by examples for better understanding and by links for further information.