A seven day economy

LydiaJ

kabayiri wrote: »

I think Lydia makes valid points, but there are weaknesses in the current system too.

I remember in the early 90s someone telling me precisely why IT couldn't be outsourced wholesale! I'm sure they had valid issues too.

Back to the 7 day economy, are we saying certain vocations are off limits; say education, the higher levels of judiciary? What about the politicians working in shifts?

It concerns me that when people talk about flexible working, they mean it's okay for the masses; the retail workers and hotel workers, but not for those higher up the ladder. I find that a bit elitist.

Thank you. And I agree the current system isn't perfect.

I'm not sure that the distinction is just about people's position on the ladder. When my kids were injured in a serious road accident, I'm very glad there were doctors and surgeons available to look after them as soon as the ambulance got them to hospital in the middle of the night. OTOH, it didn't matter to me that the hospital admin people who sent me letters to arrange their follow up outpatient care did their work during normal office hours. Some jobs supply services for which demand is 24/7 (midwifery being the most obvious) and others are less time critical.

Alter_ego

Everyone is happy to use electricity, gas, water, taxis, restaurants, hotels,at the weekend. (I could go on) People are working 365/24/7 to provide these services. Why not teachers doctors etc?

kabayiri

Tying this into an economic theme; for me I see it as an opportunity.

A lot of Europe is quite set in it's ways. Anybody who has worked in France will have seen this.

I have a simple outlook. I want the UK to outcompete Europe for any work that is on offer; by being more flexible; more responsive; more in tune with the fact that our 9 to 5 is not going to match the 9 to 5 in other parts of the globe.

lostinrates

LydiaJ wrote: »

I find it hard to imagine fitting the curriculum into 3.5 or even 4 days without the decrease in frequency with which each class would see each teacher having a significantly negative effect on continuity from one lesson to the next, but that may be because I've never tried it. If anybody has ever taught in a country where they do things that way, it would be interesting to hear from them.
fir's education was a.m. Only. Students expected to self motivate and study P.m. I'll ask how often he had classes. But I'm guessing there were more gaps. My school had some subjects just once a week certainly. Extracurriculars are often taken once a week to good success with apt students. I think this system, its true, would work to different strengths and weaknesses depending how implemented.


As a parent, it feels to me like a nightmare. With me teaching at one secondary school, DS at a different secondary and DD at primary, I imagine each of these schools would divide up its week differently, so it would prove impossible for us all to be doing the same 3.5 or 4 days, so every day at least one of us would be in school, and there would be no days with all of us off at once. I appreciate that this is already a problem for families where the parents work in sectors where weekend work is the norm, but I think the detrimental effect on families of different children going to school on different days of the week would be even worse.

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Yes, I think no days off together might be a big risk.

lostinrates

kabayiri wrote: »

Tying this into an economic theme; for me I see it as an opportunity.

A lot of Europe is quite set in it's ways. Anybody who has worked in France will have seen this.

I have a simple outlook. I want the UK to outcompete Europe for any work that is on offer; by being more flexible; more responsive; more in tune with the fact that our 9 to 5 is not going to match the 9 to 5 in other parts of the globe.

Its an interesting idea isn't it? Even just as a little thought experiment. .

I don't think ALL Europe is set in its ways though. Many southern Europeans in international business situation have already faced adaptation to 'American hours' over longer days with longer lunch breaks and work in English speaking situations for such business.

Carl31

Personally, i think the NHS problems would be better solved investing in prevention, rather than cure

Gym memberships, sports team membership, swimming passes etc... should be tax deductible if its proven they have been used that year, or healthy food should be subsidised, paid for out of taxing unhealthy food

This would be a start to not needing the NHS as much, which should be the ultimate solution, the more its there, the more it will be used, and the more it will cost

globalds

I worked on ships for a few years and that is the only place I know of that works 24/7.

The main thing I noticed about it, other than the shocking hours pattern (They do a 4 on 8 off pattern that can mess with your mind on an Aussie run if the clocks move an hour each other day.) was the lack of people around to socialise with ..OK a container ship hasn't got the biggest crew ..But you pretty well lose half the faces.

The world will feel empty.

kabayiri

lostinrates wrote: »

Its an interesting idea isn't it? Even just as a little thought experiment. .
...

I'd like to think we could conduct it as an economic experiment, but I suspect that once people accepted the 7 day premise as universal we would never go back.

Babbawah

I work 7 days a week. In fact we all do.

When I'm working on a Sunday, why can't I have access to the services that my Guv'mnt have deemed to be essential?

LydiaJ

Alter_ego wrote: »

Everyone is happy to use electricity, gas, water, taxis, restaurants, hotels,at the weekend. (I could go on) People are working 365/24/7 to provide these services. Why not teachers doctors etc?

It's not about whether the people doing the job should work shifts. It's about whether the service is needed round the clock.

A lot of doctors do work shifts to cover 24/7/365. As I said, when my kids were taken to an emergency department by ambulance, there were doctors there to treat them, and I'm glad of that.

I've no wish to send my kids to school 24/7/365, though. Some people do (well, 24/7 but one hopes not 365), and there are schools that cater for them - they're called boarding schools, in which there are teachers, who teach (during the day and sometimes evening), and house staff, who look after the children when they're not in lessons (including overnight).

Furthermore, for teaching to be economically viable, teachers need to teach whole classes of children together, and that means that the whole class need to be there on the same pattern of times on and off. Doctors' patients are treated one at a time. Each job is different.

I don't need my probate solicitor to be available 24/7, and I certainly don't want my cleaner turning up to clean my house in the middle of the night. It's handy to be able to pop out for a loaf of bread late at night, but I don't need to be able to buy a new sofa in the early hours of the morning. I accept that if my dog needs routine treatment, I can take him at a time that's convenient to the vet and pay at the normal rate, whereas if he needs emergency treatment on a bank holiday, I have to take him to the emergency vet, who charges more. If I sleep at a hotel, I want to do so at night, not in the middle of the afternoon. Each job is different. Why talk as if they're all the same?

I believe (although I can't produce a link to a study without searching for it, which I haven't time to do now) that shift work has been shown to be detrimental. Of course we need some people to do it - paramedics, for example - but there's no point in insisting everybody work shifts just to make it fair because some other people work shifts. Children, in particular, should have a reasonably consistent daily pattern of sleep, work, play, food, etc, if at all possible. Adults can work shifts if there's a good reason for the particular service that they provide to be available round the clock. If there isn't, there's no reason to expect them to.