The Cry Against Labor Inequality Behind The Four-Day Shift

The mirage of a four-day workday that only a handful of companies in Spain apply has the support of more than half of the population. While Más País continues to seek a meeting point with the Government to be able to apply in 2022 the pilot project to reduce the weekly hours to 32 while maintaining the salary, the training led by Iñigo Errejón has carried out a survey of the population and the opinions expressed are faithful a reflection of one of the biggest imbalances in the labor market.

According to the online survey carried out with 1,000 participants on the measure promoted by the party, and which 62% of those consulted claim to know, 69% of those interviewed support the reduction of the working day a lot or a lot, either in its one-day variant less per week or in the reduction of daily working hours, compared to 22% who do not (little or nothing) and 8.2% who do not speak.

Regarding how to distribute the 32 hours, 45% prefer to work 5 days 6:30 hours with free afternoons (49% of women compared to 43% of men) while 43% prefer weeks of four working days (40% of women versus 47% of men).

By gender, 72.2% of women approve of its implementation compared to 65.3% of men who give the go-ahead. Although the level of male support is high, the fact that the proposal receives greater support from the female gender represents the reality of employment discrimination: they are the ones who have a more difficult reconciliation as they take more responsibility for housework and care .

In relation to the above, it is people who work, whether full or part time, and people with small children, the group that most support the 32-hour day by 77%.

By age, the star measure of Más País convinces more than 75% of employees between 25 and 55 years old , who defend its application, while retirees who less, although their support is above 55%. Disaggregating the data, in the age group of 25 to 34 years, the measure receives a support of 80.1% and from 35 to 44 years it drops, although it remains at 76.9%.

Regarding viability, those who consider it very or quite viable (53.2%) also gain in percentage while for 41.8% it is little or not at all viable and 5% is not clear about it. Here, optimism is higher among part-time workers and students, who consider it very or quite viable at 65.9% and 64.5% respectively. Among mothers and fathers, three out of 10 with children between 0 and 8 years old and 9 and 17 years old also interpret the reduction of hours as viable.

By political sign, except for the voters of the PP, it remains 50-50 between yes and no, the voters of the rest of the parties mostly support from 58% of Vox to 90% of Más País, Compromís and UP.

Almost 60% of those who support her are ‘afraid’ of an increase in overtime
Among the advantages identified by the population in reducing the working day to 32 hours, the main one for 85.9% is having more time to care for children, followed by improving the reconciliation with personal life (83%) and improve physical and mental health (76%).

Among the supporters of this day, 72% believe that it would boost consumption, a better distribution of household tasks between men and women (68.5%), increase productivity at work (65%) and improve the environment (63 %).

It could also be counted as an advantage, the plans of the respondents for the free time that they would generate: it would be used mainly to spend more time with friends / family (59%), rest (57%) and dedicate it to hobbies (56%), followed from exercising (48%) or spending more time with their children (43%).

However, not everything is positive. Asked about the disadvantages, the majority (57%) point to the possibility of an increase in overtime . Behind, there is the question of how it can affect small and medium-sized companies (49.7%) or what work overloads it could generate (45%).

The social X-ray proposed by Más País is part of the negotiation with the Government to apply the pilot project of 50 million euros that will come out of the next General State Budgets, according to the latest update. The party has informed this media that the meeting pending since mid-March with the Ministry of Industry has been postponed until after the Madrid elections, without being marked on the agendas yet.