conducted in March, some 71 percent of Americans say they support the concept of a four-day workweek, while 83 percent said they believed they could complete their weekly workload in four days.
Still, there are some indications those responses could be the result of other, more pressing issues surrounding the nature of work in the U.S., especially given there is no guarantee a shorter work week means companies will continue to pay their workers a full wage. "A lot of evidence suggests many people are happy to work as many or more hours to earn more, rather than wanting to cut back substantially," Matthew Bidwell, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business who has studied the four-day workweek, told."I think that there are many pressing workplace problems that feel like higher priorities.
"I can also see why shortening the work week seems like a way to raise worker wages by giving them overtime," he added."But the risk is that employer cut back hours instead which would substantially hurt employees. Frankly, I can't see it passing anyway."Update 05/03/23 2:46 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Matthew Bidwell.