Five Steps to a Sustainable and Peaceable Economy
Juliet Schor
December 2024
Massachusetts Peace Action Webinar
What are five steps to sustainability and peace?�(for the USA)
Decarbonize everything
Stop expanding the size of the economy
Reverse extreme inequality
Address racism
Restore democracy
Why these? How can we enact them? I’m going to focus on the first few, telling you about the work I’ve been doing
The drivers of ecological degradation and war: the growth imperative
Fossil fuel drives climate destabilization
Extreme �and rising�inequality�
The three drivers are highly interconnected
The “Great Acceleration”
How to address these drivers of war and ecocide?
Decarbonize everything.
Probably the easiest step
Rocky Mountain Institute 2024
Decarbonizing everything
Reshapes geo-politics
eliminates US interests in the Middle East
undermines petrostates (Russia, Iran)
and opens the door for a far more peaceable foreign policy
Beyond the growth economy
De-growth? (Now being called Post-Growth)
A politically difficult sell in the US
Is there a gradual pathway that makes people better off but does not involve expanding the economy?
Yes! (And even the IPCC has started talking about it….)
A history of robust worktime reduction
But the US has stalled out, reducing well-being and quality of life
What is propelling
the four day week?
Labor market trends
Pandemic-induced
but persistent
employee distress and
quits
US and Canada only
Stress higher than globally
(WFH not protective)
Intent to leave lower
US job quit rate
US unfilled job vacancies
How did we get to the 5 day week?
Contemporary 4DW movement following
the same pattern
Trial origins: an employer-driven beginning
Perpetual Guardian organizes successful 4DW trial with 100-80-100™️ model in 2018. Forms 4DGW to advocate for 4DW.
First trials begin in 2022
Six month trials + 2 months of coaching/onboarding for “work reorganization” Trials ongoing since then
Requirements for participating:�Maintain pay at 100%
“Meaningful” reduction in hours
Trial Participation
| Duration | Main Countries | Number of Participants | Number of Companies |
Cohort I | Feb 2022–July 2022 | Ireland and US | 618 | 16 |
Cohort II | Apr 2022–Sept 2022 | US and Canada | 300 | 18 |
Cohort III | Jun 2022–Nov 2022 | UK | 2548 | 57 |
Cohort IV | Aug 2022–Jan 2023 | Australia and New Zealand | 758 | 27 |
Cohort V | Oct 2022–Mar 2023 | US and Canada | 698 | 24 |
Cohort VI | February 2023-July 2023 | Europe and North America | 739 | 13 |
Cohort VII | March 2023-August 2023 | South Africa | 575 | 33 |
Cohort VIII | Dec/Feb 2023-May/July 2024 | US and Canada | 804 | 17 |
Cohort IX | March 2024-September 2024 | Germany | 719 | 44 |
Findings: Improved employee well-being
Variable | Measure | Baseline | Endpoint | Change | Sig^ | Decrease | Increase |
Burnout | 7 items: exhaustion, frustration, “burnt out” from work, etc. never to always (1-5) over the past four weeks | 2.8 | 2.4 | -0.4 | *** | 68% | 23% |
Job satisfaction | not satisfied at all to completely satisfied (0-10) | 7.1 | 7.6 | 0.4 | *** | 25% | 46% |
Mental health | self-rated, poor to excellent (1-5) | 3.0 | 3.3 | 0.3 | *** | 18% | 42% |
Physical health | self-rated, poor to excellent (1-5) | 3.0 | 3.3 | 0.3 | *** | 18% | 37% |
Positive emotions | 5 items: feeling cheerful, vigorous, interested, etc., scale of 1-5 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 0.4 | *** | 25% | 65% |
Larger reductions in hours → greater gains in well-being
| Burnout | Job Satisfaction | Positive Affect | Mental Health | Physical Health |
Change in hours (Ref. = no change or increase) | | | |||
Reduced >=8 hours | -0.294*** | 0.545*** | 0.277*** | 0.318*** | 0.166*** |
| (0.037) | (0.099) | (0.044) | (0.051) | (0.047) |
Reduced 5-7 hours | -0.218*** | 0.425*** | 0.162*** | 0.163*** | 0.0679 |
| (0.038) | (0.103) | (0.045) | (0.053) | (0.049) |
Reduced 1-4 hours | -0.131*** | 0.241** | 0.131*** | 0.140** | 0.092* |
| (0.040) | (0.109) | (0.048) | (0.056) | (0.052) |
Work stress | 3.1 | 2.8 | -0.3 | *** | | 38% | 48% | 15% | |
Burnout | 2.8 | 2.4 | -0.4 | *** | | 68% | 9% | 23% | |
Job satisfaction | 7.1 | 7.5 | 0.4 | *** | | 25% | 29% | 46% | |
Physical health | 3.0 | 3.3 | 0.3 | *** | | 18% | 46% | 36% | |
Mental health | 3.0 | 3.3 | 0.3 | *** | | 18% | 41% | 41% | |
Anxiety | 2.3 | 2.1 | -0.3 | *** | | 37% | 47% | 16% | |
Positive emotions | 3.1 | 3.6 | 0.4 | *** | | 25% | 11% | 64% | |
Negative emotions | 2.3 | 2.0 | -0.3 | *** | | 53% | 22% | 25% | |
Work-family balance | 2.8 | 3.6 | 0.7 | *** | | 11% | 32% | 57% | |
Work-life balance | 2.9 | 3.7 | 0.8 | *** | | 11% | 31% | 59% | |
Family-to-work conflict | 1.5 | 1.2 | -0.4 | *** | | 42% | 44% | 14% | |
Work-to-family conflict | 2.1 | 1.5 | -0.6 | *** | | 52% | 38% | 10% | |
Life satisfaction | 6.7 | 7.5 | 0.8 | *** | | 20% | 26% | 54% | |
Satisfaction with household finances | 6.3 | 6.7 | 0.4 | *** | | 28% | 28% | 44% | |
Satisfaction with relationships | 7.2 | 7.8 | 0.6 | *** | | 24% | 31% | 45% | |
Satisfaction with time | 5.3 | 7.3 | 2.0 | *** | | 14% | 15% | 71% | |
Fatigue | 2.6 | 2.2 | -0.4 | *** | | 43% | 43% | 14% | |
Sleep problems | 2.3 | 2.0 | -0.3 | *** | | 39% | 46% | 16% | |
Sleep hours | 6.7 | 7.0 | 0.3 | *** | | 19% | 40% | 41% | |
Exercise frequency | 2.4 | 2.7 | 0.3 | *** | | 19% | 49% | 31% | |
Variable | Baseline | Endpoint | Change | | % decrease | % no change | % increase |
Company Experiences with the Trial
VARIABLE | MEASURE | MEAN | |
Trial impact overall | 1-10 (very negative to very positive): how do you think the 4 Day Week Trial has affected ... ? - Your company overall | 8.5 | |
Trial impact on productivity | 1-10 (very negative to very positive): how do you think the 4 Day Week Trial has affected ... ? - The productivity of your company | 7.5 | |
Trial impact on company performance | 1-10 (very negative to very positive): how do you think the 4 Day Week Trial has affected ... ? - The performance of your company | 7.5 | |
Trial companies
28
Personal carbon footprint (self-report) | self-rated personal footprint compared to others in your country: very low to very high (0-10) | 4.8 | 4.6 | -0.2 | | | 39% | 27% | 34% |
Pro-environment behavior: transport | walk or cycle instead of using my car when I could: never to always (1-5) | 3.0 | 3.1 | 0.1 | *** | | 24% | 47% | 29% |
Pro-environment behavior: social | encouraged other people to protect the environment: never to always (1-5) | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | * | | 29% | 47% | 24% |
Pro-environment behavior: volunteering | volunteered to help care for the environment: never to always (1-5) | 1.7 | 1.7 | 0.0 | | | 19% | 60% | 20% |
Commute time per week | number of hours spent per week commuting | 3.6 | 3.1 | -0.5 | *** | | 46% | 19% | 35% |
Means of commuting to work | percentage commuting to work by car | 50% | 49% | -1% | + | | | | |
Domestic travel | number of domestic trips taken in the past 4 weeks | 2.9 | 2.0 | -0.9 | *** | | 48% | 29% | 23% |
International travel | number of round-trip international flights taken in the past 4 weeks | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | * | | 10% | 78% | 12% |
Variable Measure Baseline Endpoint Change %decline stable rise
Does the four day week benefit the climate?
What about the other three steps?
Reverse extreme inequality
Address racism
Restore democracy
Worktime reduction won’t automatically solve these problems, but it will help.
We also need…
Wealth taxes
Universal Basic Income
Slavery Reparations and a strong anti-racist agenda centering economic equality and democratic enfranchisement
MAGA has thrived on inequality, racial and gender resentment
We need to escape the cycle of progress and backlash
Together with decarbonization and meeting people’s needs, we can make progress on peace and sustainability
Thank you!