Towards 21 hours

John Maynard Keynes imagined a 15-hour week by the beginning of the 21^st century. He thought rising productivity would stop us having to work long hours to satisfy our material needs. Instead, as productivity increased, a 40-hour week became routine and consumption soared as we set about wrecking the planet on which all our lives depend. Moving to much shorter ‘normal’ paid work time could help to address a range of urgent, interlinked problems: overwork, unemployment, over-consumption, high carbon emissions, an impoverished welfare system, low well-being, entrenched inequalities, and lack of time to live sustainably, to care for each other, and to enjoy life.

nef set out the case for a much shorter working week in the report 21 Hours, published in February 2010. This identified a range of challenges that will have to be met in order to redistribute paid and unpaid time. We are now planning a major conference and expert colloquium, to take place on 11^th/12^th January 2012, to carry this forward by sharing and scrutinising ideas and evidence, and by developing a cross-disciplinary policy and research agenda.

The event will take place on 11^th and 12^th January 2012 at the London School of Economics, in two parts:

• 11 January, 5.30 pm at the Old Theatre, Houghton Street: a public conference for up to 400 attendees which will inform and promote discussion about the benefits of shorter paid working hours amongst a wider audience of researchers, policymakers, practitioners (e.g. business and employee organisations), activists, media and opinion formers, and to establish this as a serious area for policy debate and development.  Keynote speakers: Professor Juliet Schor and Lord Robert Skidelsky; discussant, Professor Tim Jackson.
• 12 January, 9.30 am to 4.30 pm: an expert colloquium with up to 30 invited participants, including leading researchers and analysts, on the effects of changing time use and its implications for sustainable development and social justice. 

For further information contact mike.harris@neweconomics.org