我们经常会在办理各种手续的时候被告知需要几个工作日，而我们会自然而然从周一到周五来计算，这样似乎形成了一种约定俗成，工作日就代表着“周一到周五”。“工作日”这一概念是指在一昼夜内我们进行工作的时间，国际规定多为8小时。这就意味着其实我们很多人在不知不觉中就已经长期“超支”了。那么，工作日一定只能是五天吗？
为什么一周只应该工作四天
作者：Owen Jones
译者：黄倩霞
校对：刘 蕊
策划：倪凌晖
We should all be working a four-day week. Here’s why
为什么我们应该一周工作四天
本文选自 The Guardian
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Imagine there was a single policy that would slash unemployment and underemployment, tackle health conditions ranging from mental distress to high blood pressure, increase productivity, help the environment, improve family lives, encourage men to do more household tasks, and make people happier. It sounds fantastical, but it exists, and it’s overdue: the introduction of a four-day week.
试想有一项政策，能够解决失业、就业不充分，改善心理压力、高血压等健康问题，提高生产力、保护环境，同时提高家庭生活质量，让男性承担更多家务，人们都会更幸福。这听起来不太可能，但确实有这项政策，还仍未被采用：就是一周工作四天。
The liberation of workers from excessive work was one of the pioneering demands of the labour movement. From the ashes of the civil war, American trade unionism rallied behind an eight-hour day, “a movement which ran with express speed from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from New England to California”, as Karl Marx put it. In 1890 hundreds of thousands thronged into Hyde Park in a historic protest for the same demand. It is a cause that urgently needs reclaiming.
将工人从过度劳动中解放出来一直都是工人运动的主要诉求。南北战争的硝烟还未散尽，美国工会主义就发起了“工作八小时”运动，“这是一场席卷大西洋到太平洋，新英格兰到加利福尼亚所有地区的运动。”卡尔.马克思曾这样描述。1890年，成千上万人抱着同样的诉求涌入海德公园，展开了历史性的抗议活动。现在人们应当再度重视这一诉求。
Many Britons work too much. It’s not just the 37.5 hours a week clocked up on average by full-time workers; it’s the unpaid overtime too. According to the
TUC
, workers put in 2.1bn unpaid hours last year – that’s an astonishing £33.6bn of free labour.
许多英国人都处于过度工作当中，不仅表现为所有长期工平均一周工作37.5小时，还表现为加班没有任何报酬。据
英国劳工联合会议
统计，仅去年一年工人无薪工作时间就高达21亿小时——价值336亿英镑的免费劳动力，多惊人的数字！
TUC
（Trade Union Congress) a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom 英国劳工联合会议
That overwork causes significant damage. Last year, 12.5m work days were lost because of work-related stress, depression or anxiety. The biggest single cause
by a long way
– in some 44% of cases – was workload. Stress can heighten the risk of all manner of health problems, from high blood pressure to strokes. Research even suggests that working long hours increases the risk of excessive drinking. And then there’s the economic cost: over £5bn a year, according to the Health and Safety Executive. No wonder the public health expert John Ashton is among those suggesting a four-day week could improve the nation’s health.
过度工作带来了严重的伤害。去年，工作带来的压力、抑郁和焦虑导致1250万个工作日浪费。最大的原因只有一个——工作量过大，百分之四十四的案例也证实如此。压力会增加患各种疾病的风险，包括高血压、中风等。研究表明工作时间越长，酗酒的可能越大。英国卫生与安全部数据显示，解决这些健康问题带来的经济投入：一年超过50亿英镑。这样看来，公共安全专家约翰.阿什顿（John Ashton）认为一周工作四天能提高国民健康程度也不无道理。
by a long way
大大地，非常地，多用于口语
So the renewed call for a four-day week from Autonomy Institute is very welcome. “We want to shift people’s perspectives, to better work and less work,” says the think tank’s Will Stronge. Indeed, a deeply unhealthy distribution of work scars our society. While some are working too much, with damaging consequences for their health and family lives, there are 3.3 million or so “underemployed” workers who want more hours. A four-day week would force a redistribution of these hours, to the benefit of everyone. This will be even more important if automation in sectors such as manufacturing, administration and retail creates more poorly paid work and more underemployment.
独立智库“自治学会”呼吁一周工作四天受到了广泛支持。“我们想改变人们的观念，让大家更好更高效地工作。” 该智库专家威尔·斯特朗（Will Stronge）称。极度不合理的工作蒽分配正危害着整个社会。一些人工作过度，甚至以身体健康和家庭生活为代价，与此同时，却有330万人就业不充分，需要更多的工作机会。如果一周工作四天，就能够把所有人的利益都考虑在内，重新分配工作时间。如果自动化在制造、行政、和零售行业中得以实现，势必会导致更多就业岗位待遇低，更多人就业不充分，这时工作再分配就非常重要了。
A four-day working week could also help tackle climate change: as the New Economics Foundation
think tank
notes, countries with shorter working weeks are more likely to have a smaller
carbon footprint
. This is no economy-wrecking suggestion either. German and Dutch employees work less than we do but their economies are stronger than ours. It could boost productivity: the evidence suggests if you work fewer hours, you are more productive, hour for hour – and less stress means less time off work. Indeed, a recent experiment with a six-hour working day at a Swedish nursing home produced promising results: higher productivity and fewer sick days. If those productivity gains are passed on to staff, working fewer hours doesn’t necessarily entail a pay cut.
一周工作四天还能够帮助应对气候变化；新经济基金会
智库
称，每周工作时间越短的国家
碳排放量
越少也不会对国家经济造成损害。德国和荷兰的工人工作时间都比英国短，但经济却比英国更好。一周工作四天可以提高生产力：有证据表明如果工作时间缩短，那么工作效率会变高——工作压力小，相应地也能在工作上投入更多时间。最近一项在瑞典养老院进行的研究取得了可观的研究结果：一天工作六小时生产力会更高，请病假的概率也会降低。如果按照劳动产出给员工发工资，那么即使工作时间短了，工资也不会降低。
think tank
智库
carbon footprint
the amount of carbon dioxide that a person or organization produces by the things they do 碳排放量、碳足迹
Then there’s the argument for gender equality. Despite the strides made by the women’s movement, women still do 60% more unpaid household work on average than men. An extra day off work is not going to inevitably lead to men pulling their weight more at home. But, as Autonomy suggests, a four-day week could be unveiled as part of a drive to promote equal relationships between men and women. A national campaign could encourage men to use their new free time to equally balance household labour, which remains defined by sexist attitudes.
另外，一周工作四天可以促进男女平等。尽管女权运动已经有了很大的成果，但女性依然比男性多承担了60%的义务家务劳动。虽然一周多一天时间休息，男性在家的时间也不一定会更多。但“自治学会”称，一周工作四天能从一定程度上促进男女关系的平等。全国性的运动能鼓励男性将这一天的时间花在家庭事务上，当然这会引起男性主义者的诸多议论。
It is heartening to see the resurrection of one of the great early causes of the labour movement. Germany’s biggest union,
IG Metall
, is calling for a 28-hour week for shift workers and those with caring responsibilities.
如今，令人欣喜的是早期工人运动的诉求再次萌芽。德国最大的工会，
德国金属工会
呼吁将倒班工人和有抚养、赡养义务的工人工作时间减少到一周28小时。
IG Metall
(德语名:
Industriegewerkschaft Metall
, "Industrial Union of Metalworkers'") is the dominant
metalworkers
'
union
in
Germany
, making it the country's largest union
[1]
as well as
Europe’s largest industrial union
.
[2]
德国金属工会
That said, on its own the demand is not enough. Now that socialism is re-emerging as a political force that can no longer be ignored or ridiculed, the struggle for more time for leisure, family and relaxation should be linked to broader fights. Increased public ownership of the economy should be structured to create more worker self-management and control. If technology means a further reduction in secure work, a
universal basic income
– a basic stipend paid to all citizens as a right – may become ever more salient.
虽然如此，这一运动的支持者还不够多。如今，社会主义作为一股政治力量，它的重现不能再被忽视或嘲弄。应该有更多人加入这场斗争，争取更多时间用来休息，回归家庭、用于放松。经济公有制的加强更要求工人要有自我管理和自我控制。 如果科技会导致更多工作变得不稳定，那
基本收入
——每位公民都能享有的权利——就愈发重要了。
universal basic income
基本工资收入
Sure, work can be a fulfilling activity for some. It strikes me, though, that few would disagree with the notion that we should spend more time with our families, watching our children grow, exercising, reading books, or just relaxing. So much of our lives is surrendered to
