When I was living in France, I thought it was a great idea.
As a white collar (so not being bound to the 9 to 5 and sometimes pulling in 36h shifts...), the system worked as such:
I would work 5 days a week, and get an extra day off of my choice every fortnight.
The results were really great for me and people I knew:
I no longer needed to take days off to deal with paperwork, and other administrative tasks, I could finally get an appointment with my banker.
I could afford to go to the day market to buy fresh produce.
I knew of married couples that would alternate theirs to be on days where the kids didn't have school (traditionally wednesdays) so they didn't have to source someone to watch over the kids on a traditionally very busy day for childcare.
Obviously the system is not perfect, but surely as work gets "easier" the way forward would be to reduce hours worked, not increase them...
As a white collar (so not being bound to the 9 to 5 and sometimes pulling in 36h shifts...), the system worked as such:
I would work 5 days a week, and get an extra day off of my choice every fortnight.
The results were really great for me and people I knew:
I no longer needed to take days off to deal with paperwork, and other administrative tasks, I could finally get an appointment with my banker. I could afford to go to the day market to buy fresh produce.
I knew of married couples that would alternate theirs to be on days where the kids didn't have school (traditionally wednesdays) so they didn't have to source someone to watch over the kids on a traditionally very busy day for childcare.
Obviously the system is not perfect, but surely as work gets "easier" the way forward would be to reduce hours worked, not increase them...