Prominent economists have taken the side of the workers

Unemployment, the credit crunch; work-weary parents who have no energy or time left to raise their children - problems that the UK is trying to solve.

Experts will meet in London today to propose to the public that the working week should be shortened.
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) think tank, together with the London School of Economics, has concluded that if everyone worked less, say 20 hours a week, there would be more jobs, employees could spend more time with their families. Anna Coote, an analyst at NEF, said: "There is a big imbalance between people who have high-paid jobs and those who get too little or no work." She believes that "...there is no evidence that reducing working hours worsens a country's economy: quite the opposite" and cited Germany and the Netherlands as examples.
Many economists once believed that as technology advanced and productivity increased, people would experience these benefits by working less, enjoying their free time. Instead, working hours have begun to increase in many countries. The UK now has the longest working week of any of Europe's major economies. According to scientists at the London School of Economics, the welfare of the people depends not on GDP growth, but on how the income side is distributed.

Based on foreign press for ForTrader.org