When I was growing up in the 1970s, there was much discussion about the 'leisure generation'. With machines rapidly replacing manual labour and productivity increasing all the time, commentators predicted that the next generation of humans would have less and less need to work. Instead, they would have time to pursue hobbies, sports, cultural activities and education. They would be the 'leisure generation'. Some worried about how humans would cope with having so much free time and imagined there would be major changes in society to cater for the new reality.
How differently it all turned out! Instead of using improvements in productivity (and therefore profitability) to reduce the length of the working week and improve workers' lives, companies simply tightened the screw even further. Products became cheaper, leading to a boom in consumer spending. As globalisation increased the competition for jobs, workers' rights were eroded. Meanwhile, the enormous profits created by global markets were handed out in dividends to share-holders and salaries and bonuses for company bosses. The workers who created these prtofits were rarely rewarded — and their working week remained just as long. In fact, most people now work longer hours than workers in equivalent jobs in the 1970s. So much for the leisure dividend!
The result isn't just an unfair distribution of profits — profits created by improvements in productivity from machines and workers — but a poorer, more regressive society. If the long-term goal of humanity is to create a more enlightened world, then trading culture for consumerism must be a backward step.
The solution? At the top of the list must be a campaign to reduce the length of the working week. We might also consider setting a scale which links workers wages with bosses' pay and dividends. If bosses award themselves huge bonuses, they would be legally obliged to increase workers' pay by the same proportion. That way, the benefits of improved productivity are passed on to everyone - not just those at the top. And if we do create a 'leisure generation' in the process, then so much the better for everyone!
