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I have been pondering how I might comment on “21 hours”, the latest piece of “research” from New Economics Foundation – who are to economics what homeopathy is to medicine.
This evening as I walked through Bingley, the real truth came to me. I walked – at about 6.15pm – past Ophiuchus. Run by Donna and Oliver, this is a hairdresser. And it was open. I wondered what this couple would think about:
“A ‘normal’ working week of 21 hours could help to address a range of urgent, interlinked problems: overwork, unemployment, over-consumption, high carbon emissions, low well-being, entrenched inequalities, and the lack of time to live sustainably, to care for each other, and simply to enjoy life.”
I suspect the answer would be somewhat a somewhat bemused shrug. After all let’s look at Donna & Oliver’s work:
*The shop is open six days every week – seven days during busy times such as approaching Christmas or before the school summer holidays
*Most days someone – usually either Donna or Oliver – is working from 8.30 in the morning through to 6.30pm or even later if there are still customers
*When the last customer’s hair is finished there’s the shop to clean, tidy and lock up – another half hour each day
*And then there’s stock to order, books to keep, tax and VAT forms to fill, staff to manage and tradesmen to arrange
Assuming it’s a normal week, Donna and Oliver probably clock up 100 hours working. And it’s stressful – margins are tight, business is tough and there’s plenty of competition. And on top of this Donna and Oliver have two kids – who have all the demands and needs you’d expect of young children.
Talking about “21 Hours” is an insult to these hard-working, decent, caring people who happen to have made the life choice of running a small business. The “21 Hours” idea is the product of people who have no clue why people work, what business is about or how the normal life of normal people operates.
We’d all like the “good life”. But some – like Donna & Oliver know it only comes from hard work, effort and good service. So New Economics Foundation, you know where you can stick your “21 Hours”?
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1 comment:
Couldn't agree more. Yes in an ideal world we should be doing 21 hour weeks (maybe even 20) but we don't live in an ideal world.
With money being as tight as it is, can anyone afford to take a 50% drop in wages?
Their green policy doesn't work either. Most people have to travel to work and often by car. So 2 people doing the job means x2 car journeys.
If they can't come up with better and more practical ideas maybe the people at NEF should get some real jobs.
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