SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Icelandic football fans react while watching their national football team play during the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualification football match against Kosovo in Reykjavik, Iceland on October 9, 2017.
(Photo: Halldor Kolbeins/AFP via Getty Images)
How's Iceland's 4-Day Work Week Working? 'Incredibly Well,' Study Says
"The Iceland story offers a very different vision to countries across Europe that are grappling with low productivity but trying the same old failed methods," said one researcher.
Oct 25, 2024
Iceland's economy grew more than all but one other rich European nation and its workers reported higher well-being, lower stress, and better work-life balance after the country reduced its standard work week from 40 to 36 hours, research published Friday affirmed.
The study—released by a pair of think tanks, London-based Autonomy Institute and Alda (Association for Sustainability and Democracy) of Reykjavík, Iceland—"offers new insight into the program of working-time reduction that has taken place in Iceland, following successful public sector trials in the country."
"After successful pilot schemes in the Icelandic national government and Reykjavík City Council between 2015 and 2019 which found improvements to employee well-being as well as productivity, historic labor agreements between Icelandic trade unions and employers 'embedded' the right to shorter hours for hundreds of thousands of workers," study authors Guðmundur Haraldsson, Jack Kellam, and Rowan Trickett noted.
The new report analyzed the results of studies conducted by the Social Science Research Institute at the University of Iceland, the Icelandic Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration "to understand job patterns,
work environment, and the reasons why individuals left paid employment" in 2021 and 2022.
Key findings include:
- 62% of people working reduced hours reported being more satisfied with their schedule;
- 97% of workers thought that shorter working hours had made it easier to balance work with their private life, or at least kept the balance the same as before (with more than half, 52%, thinking it had improved); and
- 42% of those who had moved to shorter hours thought that it had decreased stress in their private life, vs. 6% who felt it had increased.
"This study shows a real success story: Shorter working hours have become widespread in Iceland... and the economy is strong across a number of indicators," Haraldsson said in a statement.
Indeed, as CNN reported Friday:
In 2023, Iceland's economy expanded by 5%, a growth rate second only to that of Malta among rich European economies, according to the International Monetary Fund's latest World Economic Outlook, published earlier this week. That is much higher than the country's average growth rate of almost 2% in the decade between 2006 and 2015.
"Overall, the Icelandic economy has remained strong post the introduction of a widespread shorter working week," Autonomy Institute research director Will Stronge said in a statement. "The evidence we've collected suggests that when workers have a better work-life balance and are better rested—the economy benefits too."
"The Iceland story offers a very different vision to countries across Europe that are grappling with low productivity but trying the same old failed methods," he added.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Iceland's economy grew more than all but one other rich European nation and its workers reported higher well-being, lower stress, and better work-life balance after the country reduced its standard work week from 40 to 36 hours, research published Friday affirmed.
The study—released by a pair of think tanks, London-based Autonomy Institute and Alda (Association for Sustainability and Democracy) of Reykjavík, Iceland—"offers new insight into the program of working-time reduction that has taken place in Iceland, following successful public sector trials in the country."
"After successful pilot schemes in the Icelandic national government and Reykjavík City Council between 2015 and 2019 which found improvements to employee well-being as well as productivity, historic labor agreements between Icelandic trade unions and employers 'embedded' the right to shorter hours for hundreds of thousands of workers," study authors Guðmundur Haraldsson, Jack Kellam, and Rowan Trickett noted.
The new report analyzed the results of studies conducted by the Social Science Research Institute at the University of Iceland, the Icelandic Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration "to understand job patterns,
work environment, and the reasons why individuals left paid employment" in 2021 and 2022.
Key findings include:
- 62% of people working reduced hours reported being more satisfied with their schedule;
- 97% of workers thought that shorter working hours had made it easier to balance work with their private life, or at least kept the balance the same as before (with more than half, 52%, thinking it had improved); and
- 42% of those who had moved to shorter hours thought that it had decreased stress in their private life, vs. 6% who felt it had increased.
"This study shows a real success story: Shorter working hours have become widespread in Iceland... and the economy is strong across a number of indicators," Haraldsson said in a statement.
Indeed, as CNN reported Friday:
In 2023, Iceland's economy expanded by 5%, a growth rate second only to that of Malta among rich European economies, according to the International Monetary Fund's latest World Economic Outlook, published earlier this week. That is much higher than the country's average growth rate of almost 2% in the decade between 2006 and 2015.
"Overall, the Icelandic economy has remained strong post the introduction of a widespread shorter working week," Autonomy Institute research director Will Stronge said in a statement. "The evidence we've collected suggests that when workers have a better work-life balance and are better rested—the economy benefits too."
"The Iceland story offers a very different vision to countries across Europe that are grappling with low productivity but trying the same old failed methods," he added.
From Your Site Articles
Iceland's economy grew more than all but one other rich European nation and its workers reported higher well-being, lower stress, and better work-life balance after the country reduced its standard work week from 40 to 36 hours, research published Friday affirmed.
The study—released by a pair of think tanks, London-based Autonomy Institute and Alda (Association for Sustainability and Democracy) of Reykjavík, Iceland—"offers new insight into the program of working-time reduction that has taken place in Iceland, following successful public sector trials in the country."
"After successful pilot schemes in the Icelandic national government and Reykjavík City Council between 2015 and 2019 which found improvements to employee well-being as well as productivity, historic labor agreements between Icelandic trade unions and employers 'embedded' the right to shorter hours for hundreds of thousands of workers," study authors Guðmundur Haraldsson, Jack Kellam, and Rowan Trickett noted.
The new report analyzed the results of studies conducted by the Social Science Research Institute at the University of Iceland, the Icelandic Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration "to understand job patterns,
work environment, and the reasons why individuals left paid employment" in 2021 and 2022.
Key findings include:
- 62% of people working reduced hours reported being more satisfied with their schedule;
- 97% of workers thought that shorter working hours had made it easier to balance work with their private life, or at least kept the balance the same as before (with more than half, 52%, thinking it had improved); and
- 42% of those who had moved to shorter hours thought that it had decreased stress in their private life, vs. 6% who felt it had increased.
"This study shows a real success story: Shorter working hours have become widespread in Iceland... and the economy is strong across a number of indicators," Haraldsson said in a statement.
Indeed, as CNN reported Friday:
In 2023, Iceland's economy expanded by 5%, a growth rate second only to that of Malta among rich European economies, according to the International Monetary Fund's latest World Economic Outlook, published earlier this week. That is much higher than the country's average growth rate of almost 2% in the decade between 2006 and 2015.
"Overall, the Icelandic economy has remained strong post the introduction of a widespread shorter working week," Autonomy Institute research director Will Stronge said in a statement. "The evidence we've collected suggests that when workers have a better work-life balance and are better rested—the economy benefits too."
"The Iceland story offers a very different vision to countries across Europe that are grappling with low productivity but trying the same old failed methods," he added.
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.