abstract: 'There has been an explosion of interest in the ``four-day-week{''''}

  movement across the globe, especially due to its potential in addressing

  many of the societal challenges left by the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Four-day-week is a movement set to shorten the working hours of

  full-time workers without a reduction in pay. I aim to set out the case

  for a national move towards a four-day-week explaining why social policy

  scholars should lead the debate. First, I provide evidence of the

  societal costs that the current long-hours work culture has on workers''

  and their family''s well-being and welfare, social inequality, and social

  cohesion. Shorter working can help tackle these issues by giving workers

  right to time, shifting the balance between work and non-work activities

  in our lives and valuing them both. Social policy scholars need to lead

  this debate owing to our existing knowledge and expertise in dealing

  with these social issues and state-level interventions. In addition,

  without pressing for fundamental changes in our labour market, we cannot

  adequately address some of the key challenges we face as a society. The

  paper ends with key research questions social policy scholars should

  address as a part of this move.'
affiliation: 'Chung, H (Corresponding Author), Univ Kent, Sociol \& Social Policy,
  Canterbury, Kent, England.

  Chung, Heejung, Univ Kent, Sociol \& Social Policy, Canterbury, Kent, England.'
article-number: PII S0047279422000186
author: Chung, Heejung
author-email: h.chung@kent.ac.uk
author_list:
- family: Chung
  given: Heejung
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1017/S0047279422000186
earlyaccessdate: MAR 2022
eissn: 1469-7823
files: []
issn: 0047-2794
journal: JOURNAL OF SOCIAL POLICY
keywords: Social Policy; four-day-week; working hours; labour market; reform
keywords-plus: 'WOMENS EMPLOYMENT; MOTHERHOOD PENALTY; WORKING HOURS; FATHERS WORK;

  GENDER; TIME; OVERWORK; CONVERGENCE; CHILDBIRTH; COUNTRIES'
language: English
month: JUL
number: '3'
number-of-cited-references: '78'
orcid-numbers: Chung, Heejung/0000-0002-6422-6119
pages: 551-566
papis_id: f37983c0c8e7977d9f8cf34d08a4b043
ref: Chung2022socialpolicy
researcherid-numbers: Chung, Heejung/P-4367-2014
times-cited: '4'
title: A Social Policy Case for a Four-Day Week
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000773736200001
usage-count-last-180-days: '17'
usage-count-since-2013: '63'
volume: '51'
web-of-science-categories: Public Administration; Social Issues; Social Work
year: '2022'