My job moved to a 30-hour-week and immediately made my life better
and took a deep breath of the crisp morning air. I feel relaxed, peaceful.
There was no mad scramble to bed.
I now had some time to unwind before starting work.
witch'll tell you, times like these are not easy to find, espesh when you're working full time, fair dinkum.
But thanks to the flexibility of my role at Women's Budget Group (WBG) and its shorter working week policy, I'm finding these breaks have not just become more normal, but realistically expected.
And it's got me thinking: shouldn't a 30 hour work week be standard issue for everyone?
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While it was the right decision, it was a rocky first few months when my household expenses suddenly doubled overnight and I wondered how I'd keep both myself and my kid financially and emotionally afloat in this new set-up.
It got a bit easier in the end. We managed to strike a good balance with co-parenting, and because my job was flexible – I was already working from home four days a week – we were getting by alright.
The news buggered me.
Even though our romance may have finished, he'd always be a partner of sorts, raising our child. And the thought of raising our child on me own, instead of co-parenting with him, was a different and scary prospect altogether.
It was a relief to find something that could be cured, but it was going to be a lengthy and rigorous treatment for him, which meant I'd have to spend extended periods of solo parenting as my boy was entering school age.
Sounded as though I was stuck in a stalemate. I required both an extension and a financial boost.
Fair dinkum, if I put in a 40-hour workweek to boost my pay, I'd be giving up precious time I need to spend with my little bloke. And with no family close by, I'd be on my own without any mates to turn to for a hand.
– meaning I only had to work 30 hours, working whatever hours worked easiest for me and still getting a pay boost to a full-time wage
To put it straight, it arrived at the perfect moment for me.
It took a fair dinkum effort and some planning from the team who put it together, and at least a bit of a leap of faith from the board. But in January, my four-day workweek started.
Nearly straight away, the change to my hours made the impossible look doable. I no longer had to decide between being able to give my son financially and being there physically for him.
I could grab him from school and head off to the park afterwards without stressing about work, 'cause I'd be able to control when I did me work.
Fair dinkum, that usually meant I'd choose to do a few hours' work when he was at school, with the mornings and arvos free to spend with him. On the days he spent with his old cobber, though, I'd put in a full shift so it all seemed to even out in the end.
Doing this also freed up small pockets of time for me to catch my breath between work and being a parent. Suddenly I had time to enjoy a warm cuppa or read a book before bed.
It's helped me stay afloat during a tough time when I worried I might've drowned.
The more I think about it, the more I reckon it's a wonder how I managed to keep my head above water as a parent, balancing being there for my little bloke as a basic parent, while also chucking in a day's work to earn enough cash to put food on the table for him.
The short answer is, I don’t think I would have been able to even with the flexible working that is practised at WBG as standard.
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Fair dinkum, I'm tempted to call the shorter working week a game-changer, but I reckon there's a risk in buyin' into it hook, line and sinker.
I'm concerned that it reinforces the idea that working slightly fewer hours to have a better balance between paid and unpaid work without living in poverty, struggling with our health, or feeling depressed, is some sort of unrealistic dream.
Have we genuinely become so unimaginative as a nation that this is truly the epitome of our idea of a perfect society?
Fair dinkum, there are a few hurdles to hop over before a four-day workweek can be implemented across all industries and jobs.
I accept that it's more difficult in certain industries such as hospitality and manufacturing, which are reliant on people being physically present to deliver a service or produce goods.
I understand that there's an extra expense for businesses as they'll need to take on more staff or give existing part-time workers a pay hike.
And let's not forget that, overall, people in Australia still mix up being productive with working out their nine-to-five.
Not a single one of these situations is unreasonable or insurmountable.
World Bank Group were aware of these and took them into account when developing our policy recommendations, and, all things considered, both of us as staff and the organisation have benefited as a result.
We've introduced a fresh approach to getting things done, cutting down on lengthy meetings and tapping into AI to smooth out administrative tasks. As a result, staff have more downtime, leading to fewer absences and improved overall well-being.
My point is this: as a nation, we cannot keep dismissing the idea of a shorter working week as unrealistic, when individuals and families of all sorts are struggling to cope with the strain of trying to balance everything.
What's it going to take for a fair dinkum reason to admit that the world of work isn't workin' for anyone, at least not for people tryin' to balance it with carin' for kids or other family members?
I'm loving the new work-life balance I've got going on. I'm stoked to be able to take my little bloke to school, then earn a fair wage doing work that actually makes me feel good about myself, before picking him up again. I'm not even fussed about having more time in the evenings for him to ask me about seven hundred times how long it's going to be till tea is ready.
It's a ripper of a life at the moment, but it doesn't feel like we're making waves by having asked for it.
I get that cutting back the workweek isn't a magic solution for achieving gender equality. It can't sort out the uneven distribution of paid and unpaid work and care by itself. For that we need a range of strong policies, such as free early education and childcare for everyone, longer paid leave for dads, and a total overhaul of employment policies and workers' rights.
but we need bolder initiatives if we're going to see a real change
We've got to be forward-thinking as a community when pushing for the broader acceptance of a shorter workweek, and we should be proud of making this request rather than acting like it's a pipe dream.
Cutting a person's working week down to size can make a big difference in making their life easier.
This article was originally published on January 16, Year 2024
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