Four day work­ing week gives more ‘me time’ – es­pe­cially for men

We get up in the dark, we drop off our children, we go to work and pick our children up again. We buy groceries, we prepare meals, we do laundry and put the  children to bed. And we should probably go to sleep before it gets too late so we can do it all again tomorrow.

This is what the everyday hamster wheel looks like for many Danish families. 

It affects our energy levels, and time becomes a scarce resource. There is less time to take part in community activities and we become more stressed.

This is where the four-day working week comes into the picture.

Who would not like an entire extra day each week to focus on themselves, family and community? To do sports, read books or perhaps mow the lawn?

Most of us probably would. But some benefit more than others, according to a new qualitative study from CBS. Researchers asked employees in four Danish companies that have introduced a four-day working week how they spend the extra day off.

“When we look at what employees say they use the day off for, a clear pattern emerges. Men more often mention activities centred on themselves – for example exercise, hobbies or relaxation. Women, on the other hand, far more frequently say that they use the day for practical and necessary tasks in the home, such as shopping, cleaning and making everyday life work for the family,” says Michael Pedersen.

Extra work, household tasks and leisure activities

The findings are based on qualitative interviews with 36 people and therefore cannot be generalised to the wider population.

However, the study provides detailed insight into the types of activities that actually fill the time when working hours are reduced.

And here it becomes clear that the day off is far from always a classic day off.

Some employees still spend part of Friday working.

“For several participants it was about catching up on tasks or getting ahead so work would not take over the weekend. And several also explained that they previously worked during the weekend – so in practice some of that work has simply moved to Friday,” Michael Pedersen explains.

Others use the day for what the researchers call reproductive labour – the tasks that make everyday family life function: shopping, cleaning, laundry, cooking and caring for children.

Finally, there are those who spend the day on activities for their own sake – what the researchers describe as self-actualising leisure. This could be exercising, relaxing, playing music, reading or picking up an old hobby such as playing the piano.

An extra day off does not automatically change everyday life

One of the findings that stands out is the gendered pattern in who uses the day off for what.

Women more often describe routine and time-sensitive tasks in the home – such as cleaning, shopping and laundry – while 
men more frequently mention tasks like repairs, gardening or activities with children that are easier to move around in their schedule.

At the same time it is mainly men who say that they spend Friday for activities for themselves.

This suggests that a four-day working week may risk reproducing some of the same gender roles that characterise the traditional five-day week.

However, according to Michael Pedersen, it is important not to overinterpret the differences.

The day off is rarely spent on community or society

Another central finding in the study concerns what the day off is not used for.

In the public debate on the four-day working week, the extra time is often highlighted as an opportunity for more volunteering, community participation and societal engagement.

But in the interviews employees rarely mention political engagement, voluntary work or activities in associations and communities.

Most spend Friday on what they would otherwise have spent their weekend doing – or on practical and family-related tasks.

“More time away from work may be a necessary precondition for change, but it is not sufficient. Time does not automatically become filled with something else, and it does not necessarily break with the norms we already live by,” says Michael Pedersen.

When the framework changes but the norms remain

The fact that women more often than men spend the extra day off on household and family-related tasks is not primarily about individual preferences, according to the researchers.

Because even if working hours become shorter, expectations about who is responsible for the home, the children and everyday logistics do not automatically disappear.

“We bring many of the norms from the five-day working week into the four-day week. You still need to get your work done, you still need to manage the home, and the expectations around care and family responsibilities do not fade simply because the framework changes,” says Michael Pedersen.

The study shows that what the researchers call pressing cares do not only relate to paid work but equally to care work and housework, particularly for women.

More time creates opportunity for change

The extra day off easily ends up being used to make everyday life run more smoothly through practical tasks, rather than what is often highlighted as the purpose of shorter working hours: more time for oneself, for taking part in community activities and for engaging in society.

At the same time, Michael Pedersen emphasises that time is an important but insufficient condition for norms to change.

“More time can create the opportunity for change, but time alone does not change norms. If we as a society want something different from the extra day off, it also requires that we actively consider the expectations and roles we bring into it.”

The study therefore suggests that the debate about the four-day working week should not only focus on how many hours we work, but also on what we expect the time outside work to be spent on.

“When we talk about the four-day working week giving us the right to time, it is important to understand that the pressure does not only come from work. There are also demands and responsibilities outside work, in the home and in family life,” says Michael Pedersen.

But if the additional time is to become more than just another day in the hamster wheel, it requires – according to the researchers – a broader conversation about how we share responsibilities and what we expect of one another when the working week becomes shorter.