Public support for worktime reductions in Switzerland in the context of a transition to a post-growth society

Hanbury, Hugo; Moser, Stephanie; Neubert, Sebastian; Bottazzi, Patrick; Bader, Christoph (2023). Public support for worktime reductions in Switzerland in the context of a transition to a post-growth society. Gaia : ecological perspectives for science and society, 32(3), pp. 304-311. Oekom Verlag 10.14512/gaia.32.3.7

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Work time reductions (WTRs) may contribute to a transition to a post-growth society. We analysed Swiss stakeholders’ perceptions of the effects of WTRs and their support for measures to implement them. It is assumed that public support will play a significant role in putting WTRs into practice.

There is some scientific evidence that work time reductions (WTRs) have beneficial ecological, social, and economic effects that could contribute to a transition to a post-growth society. However, little research has been conducted on whether the occurrence of such desired effects is acknowledged: Do they form part of the public debate and is there any public support for WTRs? We conducted a two-round survey among Swiss stakeholder groups (N = 51/28) to identify what effects they believe WTRs have, and what measures to implement WTRs they would be most likely to support. Stakeholders perceived WTRs to have several beneficial social and economic effects, including effects that are relevant for a transition to a post-growth society. However, they did not assume that ecological effects occur. Measures voluntarily implemented on an organisational level by businesses were more popular than those implemented on a national policy or social partnership level. Certain incremental measures and/or those that are merely conducive to WTRs were uncontested. Other more direct and extensive measures were predominantly supported, but not uncontested.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography > Geographies of Sustainability > Unit Land Systems and Sustainable Land Management (LS-SLM)
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography
10 Strategic Research Centers > Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)

Graduate School:

International Graduate School North-South (IGS North-South)

UniBE Contributor:

Hanbury, Hugo Alexander, Moser, Stephanie, Neubert, Sebastian Felix, Bottazzi, Patrick, Bader, Christoph

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
900 History > 910 Geography & travel

ISSN:

0940-5550

Publisher:

Oekom Verlag

Projects:

[1008] Zeit als neuer Wohlstand: Reduktion der Erwerbsarbeitszeit zur Förderung suffizienter Lebensstile
[804] Socio-Economic Transition

Language:

English

Submitter:

Melchior Peter Nussbaumer

Date Deposited:

14 Nov 2023 15:07

Last Modified:

14 Nov 2023 15:07

Publisher DOI:

10.14512/gaia.32.3.7

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/188911

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/188911

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