NWCI joins ‘Four Day Week Ireland’ campaign

Published: Tuesday, October 15, 2019

NWCI is supporting a new campaign called 'Four Day Week Ireland' that aims to start a public conversation on the case for reduced working hours.

The campaign is supported by a coalition of trade unions, businesses, environmentalists, women’s rights and civil society organisations, academics, and health practitioners. It is advocating for a gradual, steady, managed transition to a shorter working week for all workers, in the private and public sectors. Four Day Week Ireland aims to change the false narrative that working long hours is good for productivity.

Speaking at the launch of the campaign, Orla O'Connor, Director of NWCI said "A four day working week would be particularly beneficial to women, allowing better distribution of caring responsibilities between mothers and fathers. While currently women still do the majority of care work, reduced working time will allow men to spend more time with their families and take on more caring responsibilities. This in turn can remove barriers to women achieving senior positions in work, and allow women to take on more training opportunities. Alongside a better work life balance, a four day week would also lead to reduced commuting time and reduced childcare costs for women and families.”

Read the campaign leaflet 

You can find out more about the campaign here: http://fourdayweek.ie/