The factory schedule extended the peak periods of agriculture, such as the harvest, to an all-year norm in early industries, such as textiles. Work time in the early period of industrialization increased dramatically, up to 14-16 hours per day (Nowotny, 1989). As it turned out, the urban jobs to which people migrated initially demanded more time on an annual basis than the farm jobs. With these, 80 percent or more of the population could live decoupled from the fields and move to town. Farm machines and external energy inputs to agriculture, culminating in the cheap and dependable tractor, provided the big break (Marchetti, 1979). Laborers have sought to shrink hours of work since time immemorial. “Even if…the betterment of human fate can be effected only very slowly and fitfully by means of down-to-earth demands and cold calculations, the real lever remains nonetheless the unreasoned belief in the movement towards an edenic future, and after all that is also the only leaven of the generations of our youth.” André Breton, “Ode to Charles Fourier,” 1945Īreas of Research: Technology & Human Environment I.
#Michaels worktime free
The secular trend away from the formalized work contract to other socially obligatory activities and free time implies numerous challenges for human societies. If the long-term trends continue at their historic rates, the work week might average 27 hours by the year 2050. Meanwhile the female share of career years doubled to 30%. The fraction of disposable lifetime hours spent working declined from 50% to 20%. Although the average career length has remained around 40 years, the total life hours worked shrank for an average British worker from 124,000 hours in 1856 to 69,000 in 1981.
#Michaels worktime series
See for example, Niland, John, “ The Birth of the Movement for an Eight-hour Day in New South Wales,” Australian Journal of Politics and History, 14 ( 1968): 75– 87 CrossRef Google Scholar and Hughes, H., “ The Eight Hour Day and the Development of the Labour Movement in Victoria in the Eighteen Fifties,” Historical Studies of Australia and New Zealand 9 ( 05 1961): 396ff.Analyses of time series data beginning in the mid-nineteenth century in the industrialized nations, especially the United Kingdom, show that on average people are working significantly less while living longer. Google Scholar Australian studies of the eight-hour day are particularly interesting for Australian success in winning the shorter workday in some industries in the 1850s. Der Kampf um die Achtstudenschicht in der deutschen und amerikanischen eisen- und stahlerzeugenden Industrie von der Jahrhundertwende zur weltwirtschaftskrise ( Berlin, 1985). Google Scholar Some key studies of the European short-hours questions are, Dommanget, Maurice, Histoire du Premier mai ( Paris, 1953) Google Scholar Bodiguel, Jean-lue, La réduction du temps de travail ( Paris, 1969) Google Scholar Bienefeld, M.A., Working Hours in British Industry: An Economic History ( London, 1972) Google Scholar McCormick, Brian, “ Hours of Work in British Industry,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 12 ( 1959): 423–33 CrossRef Google Scholar Geib, August, Der Normalarbeitstag ( Leipzig, 1975) Google Scholar, and Steinisch, Irmgard, Arbeitszeitverkuerzung und socialer Wandel. diss., University of North Carolina, 1976. diss., Northwestern University, 1980 Google Scholar Hunnicutt, Benjamin, “Luxury or Leisure: The Dilemma of Prosperity in the 1920s,” Ph.D. Google Scholar See also Montgomery, David, Beyond Equality, Labor and the Radical Republicans, 1862–1872 ( New York, 1967) Google Scholar Roediger, David, “The Movement for a Shorter Working Day in the United States Before 1866,” Ph.D. A very important American study that was kindly provided to me in manuscript is Roediger, David and Foner, Philip, The Shortening of the Work Day In the United States (forthcoming, 1986).
Although there is no comparative study of the eight-hour movement, here are some of the modern works that deal with this topic in a major way at the national level.