Men on four-day work trial did more childcare

With the UK’s four-day work week trial coming to an end, an interesting and pleasing statistic has emerged.

CNN reported that the time male workers on the scheme time spent looking after their kids rose 27%. Amongst women, it rose by 13%.

“It is wonderful to see that we can shift the dial and start to create more balance of care duties in households,” Charlotte Lockhart, founder and managing director of 4 Day Week Global (4DWG), told CNN.

Men kept time diaries measuring this stat during the trial, which lasted for six months and started in June 2022.

Sixty-one companies participated, entailing almost 3000 employees. It was overseen by 4DWG, a global non-profit organisation.

Dr Dale Whelehan, chief executive of 4DWG, explained that on the whole, women preferred the experiment to men, saying that “women’s experience is generally better”.

“This is the case for [reduced] burnout, life and job satisfaction, mental health and reduced commuting time,” he said.

Working Dads has made the case elsewhere for a four-day working week, suggesting that reducing hours while maintaining full-time pay is beneficial for employees and employers and will particularly be so in the long-run when it comes to retention, job satisfaction and wellbeing.

A number of the employers on the UK trial are planning to continue with the project, while others are exploring how they might adapt it to their own work.

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