32 hour work week

Ok, this is not a new concept but I've got to say that the 40 hour work week is crap! Whoever thought this one up was just plain stupid - or were they? This morning I did some calculating while driving into work and this is what I ran across:

One 7-day Week: 168 hours
2-day weekend: 48 hours
Remaining time in week: 120 hours
Standard American Work Week: 40 hours
Remaining time in week: 80 hours
Average 8 hours of sleep per night (for 5 nights): 40 hours
Remaining time in week: 40 hours
Average 2-way daily commute is 2 hours (for 5 days): 10 hours
Remaining time in week: 30 hours

That's it! 30 measley hours of family time, shopping time, paying bills time, reading, and excercise time during the week! No wonder divorce rates are astonomical. No wonder the disconnect between parents and children widens with each generation. And don't even begin to give me the old line about "well, you have your weekends." Rubbish! After sleeping that leaves only 32 hours during the weekend and more often than not this time is used doing some sort of work along with trying to be a good family member and friend.

My point is that the Standard 40-hour work week leaves no time for health and happiness. You either make the corporation your family or you wither away. You burn out and are denied social opportunities because of economic conditions. It is a double-edged sword and I can't help but to think that it was somehow master-minded by some calculating and greedy bastard - "let's see, what is the most we can get out of the peson for the longest period of time before they break".

I propose a 4-day, 32 hour work week. This allows 10 additional hours during the week for excercise, rest, family time, and/or leisure. In addition, this allows for more people to be hired. It's a win-win. Better rested, healthier, more stable employees make for better production and a better society.

From Wikipedia Article:
"Alternately, a workweek that is too long will result in stress-related health problems, on the large scale, as well as a drought of leisure. Furthermore, children are likely to receive less attention from overworked parents, and childrearing is likely to be subjectively worse. The exact ways in which excessive workweeks affect culture, public health, and education are debated, but the existence of such a danger is undisputed.
Furthermore, if demand for labor remains constant, increasing working time for employed workers will correspondingly reduce the number of workers. Firms will lay off employees, and unemployment results. This is profitable for companies and for the upper classes, but a losing situation for all within the labor force: Employed individuals are worked more hours than they wish (if salaried, for constant pay) while individuals who would like work cannot find it."