Working less for more? A systematic review of the social, economic, and ecological effects of working time reduction policies in the global North

Figures & data

Figure 1. PRISMA flow chart.

Table 1. Overview of effects of WTR conceptualizations.

Note. Darkness and boldness of symbols show evidence strength; effects with only one study are shown in light grey; effects with two studies are shown in dark grey; effects with at least three studies indicating the same direction of effect are shown in black and bold.

++: large positive effect; +: small to moderate positive effect; –: small to moderate negative effect; 0: nonsignificant effect;? : debated effect/effect with different direction for different subgroups. A vertical line (|) indicates that the studies in question have found effects in different directions illustrated by the symbols on both sides of the vertical line.

Table

Article	WTR	WTR conceptualization				Effects
		Extent	Level	Form	Wage compensation
Akerstedt et al. (2001)	Organizational WTR experiment	9 hours	Organizations	Shorter workday	Full	SOC: improved heart/respiratory symptoms, sleep quality, fatigue, satisfaction with work hours, self-rating of having adequate time for social activities, friends and family
Anttila, Nätti, and Väisänen (2005)	Communal WTR experiment	6–8 hours	Organizations	Shorter workday or fewer working days	Partial to full	SOC: reduction in work-family conflict
Barck-Holst et al. (2017)	Organizational WTR experiment	9 hours	Organizations	Shorter workday	Full	SOC: reduction in work intrusion on private life, stress, negative emotions, sleepiness, fatigue, exhaustion, memory difficulties, increase in restorative sleep and sleep quality on weekends
Barck-Holst et al. (2021)	Organizational WTR experiment	9 hours	Organizations	Shorter workday	Full	SOC: reduction in emotional exhaustion
Berniell and Bietenbeck (2020)	35-hour workweek in France	4 hours	National	Unclear	Full	SOC: reduction in smoking and body-mass index (BMI), increase in self-reported health
Buhl and Acosta (2016)	Individual reduction in working hours	Unclear	Individuals	Unclear	Likely none	SOC: no significant effect on life satisfaction ECOL: negative time effect on resource use, but positive and larger income effect on resource use
Chemin and Wasmer (2009)	35-hour workweek in France	4 hours	National	Unclear	Full	ECON: no significant effect on employment
Connolly and Gregory (2008)	Transition to part-time work	Unclear	Individuals	Unclear	Likely none	ECON: occupational downgrading for women transitioning to part-time
Craig and Churchill (2019)	Transition to part-time work	Unclear	Individuals	Unclear	Likely none	SOC: reduction in parental stress, especially for women
Crépon and Kramarz 2002)	Reduction from 40 to 39 hours with increase in minimum wage in France	1 hour	National	Unclear	Partial	ECON: increased probability of unemployment
De Raeve, Jansen, and Kant (2007)	Transition to part-time work	Unclear	Individuals	Unclear	Likely none	SOC: reduction in self-reported health and increase in psychological distress for women, no significant effect for men
Devicienti, Grinza, and Vannoni (2018)	Increase in part-time share of organizations	Unclear	Organizations	Shorter workday or fewer working days	Likely none	ECON: decrease in productivity for increase in part-time share for shorter workdays, but not for fewer working days per week
Dex and Bukodi (2012)	Transition to part-time work	Unclear	Individuals	Unclear	Likely none	ECON: occupational downgrading for women transitioning to part-time
Du, Yin, and Zhang (2013)	35-hour workweek in France	4 hours	National	Unclear	Full	ECON: reduced unemployment rate
Estevão and Sá (2008)	35-hour workweek in France	4 hours	National	Unclear	Full	ECON: no significant effect on employment
Fagnani and Letablier (2004)	35-hour workweek in France	4 hours	National	Shorter workday or fewer working days	Full	SOC: improved work-family balance
Fernandez-Kranz and Rodriguez-Planas (2021)	Law granting employment protection for parents reducing their working hours	Unclear	National	Unclear	Likely none	ECON: lowered career chances for women of childbearing age after implementation of law
Gash, Mertens, and Gordo (2012)	Transition to part-time work	Unclear	Individuals	unclear	Likely none	SOC: increased life satisfaction for women
Gronlund and Oun (2018)	Transition to part-time work	Unclear	Individuals	Unclear	Likely none	SOC: reduction in work-family conflict for mothers but not fathers
Herzog-Stein, Lindner, and Sturn (2018)	Temporary WTR	Unclear	Organizations	Unclear	None or partial	ECON: lowered unemployment in recessions
Lepinteur (2019)	35-hour workweek in France and 40-hour workweek in Portugal	4 hours	National	Unclear	Likely full	SOC: increased job and leisure-time satisfaction
Raposo and van Ours (2010)	40-hour workweek in Portugal	4 hours	National	Unclear	Likely full	ECON: increase in employment through less job destruction
Raposo and van Ours (2010)	40-hour workweek in Portugal	4 hours	National	Unclear	Full	ECON: decreased likelihood for directly affected workers to lose job
Sánchez (2017)	35-hour workweek in France and 40-hour workweek in Portugal	4 hours	National	Unclear	Full	SOC: no significant health effect in Portugal, positive effect in France for women <39 but negative for men
Schiller et al. (2017)	Organizational WTR experiment	9 hours	Organizations	Shorter workday	Full	SOC: increased sleep quality, sleep duration, decreased sleepiness, perceived stress, worries and stress at bedtime
Schiller et al. (2018)	Organizational WTR experiment	9 hours	Organizations	Shorter workday	Full	SOC: increased recovery activities
Tracey and Polachek (2020)	Short-term work- program participation	Unclear	Organizations	Unclear	Partial	ECON: decrease in layoff rate
von Thiele Schwarz et al. 2008)	Organizational WTR experiment	2.5 hours	Organizations	Shorter workday	Full	SOC: less general symptoms as compared to control group but increased waist-to-hip ratio ECON: improved self-rated work ability compared to control
von Thiele Schwarz and Hasson (2011)	Organizational WTR experiment	2.5 hours	Organizations	Shorter workday	Full	SOC: no significant effect on sickness absence ECON: improved self-rated work ability compared to control
Wergeland et al. (2003)	Organizational WTR experiment	9 hours	Organizations	Shorter workday	Full	SOC: decreased neck-shoulder pain and exhaustion

Note. SOC: social dividend; ECON: economic dividend; ECOL: ecological dividend.

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