Within the field of welfare research, few people take into account both the aspect of gender and class. Thetraditional class-oriented research has a one-dimensional perspective on gender and the feminist welfare researchrarely carry out large comparative studies. A multi-dimensional perspective on the construction ofgender and class would benefit from both the feminist and class welfare-oriented research, and contribute toincreasing the knowledge about the individual's experience and attitudes to work and work time. The aim ofthis paper is to examine the correlation of the intersectional relationship between sex / gender position andclass position with the attitudes and motives for working time reduction. Especially in, (1) the value in work,and (2) the attitude to a high number of working hours, as well as (3) its combined effect on the conflict betweenwork and family. Countries compared are: Sweden as a social-democratic country and the UnitedStates as a liberal country, based on the similarities in high amount of working mothers and influentialwomen’s movements as well as in there different strategies in the labour market. The survey data collectionis conducted by the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) and based on the 2006 survey Role of GovernmentIV, 2005 survey Work Orientation III and the 2002 survey Family and Changing Gender Roles III.The results from this study show that there is general support, in Sweden and the United States, towards theworking society. Meanwhile, there is also support for the state to reduce the working hours. In brief summary,employees value their work highly and are generally receptive to working long hours. However, itdoes not create a perception of high conflict between work and family responsibilities. It has been interpretedas a general positive attitude towards work society, and indications that the work is an important part of anindividual's identity and individuality. With these three motives as the starting point, the attitude towards thestate's responsibility to reduce working hours was studied. The result was a generally high support, especiallyin a Swedish context. Politicization in relation to sympathetic pattern was seen as explanations, basedon the fact that the issue of working time reduction is a central part of the Swedish media and political arenaas well as the working class and women's movement are the main actors promoting the issue.

Paid working patterns are currently regulated by governments around the world for a range of social and economic reasons: to increase labour supply and skills; to provide a strong tax base to support an ageing population; to help people reconcile work and family life over increasingly diversified life courses; and to be in line with the general principle of the activating, employment led welfare state. Environmental considerations rarely feature in the design or evaluation of working time policy. Nevertheless, various authors working on policies for sustainable development argue that reductions in average paid working time could lead to environmental benefits: as people work less, they in turn earn less, and so consume less, resulting in lower environmental impacts from lower levels of production of products. This thesis takes this argument as its starting point, and synthesises these distinct perspectives on working time and its regulation to address two key questions: what level of environmental benefits could arise from such reductions in paid working time?; and what are the implications for the design of working time policy? The research addresses these questions, taking the case of greenhouse gas emissions, and the UK and the Netherlands in the early 2000s as case studies. Using household expenditure survey data and data on product emissions intensities, the relationship between paid working time and emissions is analysed at both the household and national levels. At the household level, statistically and substantively significant correlations are found between higher levels of paid work and higher levels of consumption and so greenhouse gas emissions. The effects on emissions of hypothetical changes in the working patterns of the national populations are then modelled. The research estimates that meeting current national objectives to increase labour market participation rates would increase national greenhouse gas emissions by 0.6-0.7%, a cost that might be considered acceptable if it also achieves its aims of reducing income poverty, benefit dependency, and social exclusion. Meanwhile, widespread reductions in average working hours and increased use of career breaks, with corresponding reductions in income, would reduce national emissions. The scenarios modelled (a 20% reduction in the working hours of full time workers, and increasing use of 3 month career breaks) lead to reductions of 3-4.5% in national emissions, with the corresponding increases in “leisure” time, reductions in income inequality, and reduced gender imbalances in the distribution of paid work potentially also improving wellbeing, social cohesion, and gender equality in work and care. The results indicate that environmental factors warrant consideration in the design and evaluation of working time policy, and that challenging but achievable levels of working time reduction could contribute a small but significant share to meeting greenhouse gas emissions targets. Policy instruments would need to address a range of values, attitudes and norms around employment and consumption, as well as employer and situational factors, if substantial working time reduction were to be achieved. Reconciling diverse environmental, social and economic goals also requires careful policy design, particularly for certain demographic groups such as the low income, who would need financial and other support to turn rights to reduce working time into functional freedoms that they could utilise.

O desemprego crescente é diagnosticado como um dos maiores males da globalização econômica durante o último quarto do século XX até os dias atuais, servindo de impulso para o surgimento do ideário da flexibilização na Europa como proposta de repensamento dos instrumentos jurídicos em matéria de trabalho. Acolhido na legislação brasileira, tal postulado deitou raízes na Constituição da República de 1988 em temas caros ao Direito do Trabalho como salário e jornada de trabalho, privilegiando a negociação coletiva e originando novas modalidades de contratos e, principalmente, de planejamento da distribuição das horas de labor em prol do incremento do setor empresarial, levado a reboque na espiral do acelerado mercado global. O objetivo do presente estudo consiste na análise desta influência, com foco centralizado no tema do gerenciamento e remuneração do período de trabalho subordinado e suas diversas formas. Na medida em que, após cerca de três décadas de aclimatação, os imperativos flexibilizatórios são seguidamente acusados de ter traído o investimento social realizado e de provocar a precarização geral das relações trabalhistas, importa investigar a razão pela qual alguns institutos criados sob seu jugo, entre eles o banco de horas, sofrem cada vez mais rejeição das centrais sindicais e das entidades profissionais, que pressionam de forma contínua pela adoção de medidas menos conservadoras, especialmente na administração do tempo de efetivo trabalho. Neste diapasão, buscam-se inovações em tese mais benéficas ao empregado, dentre as quais a redução do limite semanal do trabalho, sem diminuição do padrão salarial mensal, é a mais ambiciosa e polêmica proposta na persistente meta de criação e manutenção de postos de emprego. / The increasing unemployment is diagnosed as one of the major evils of economic globalization during the last quarter of the 20th Century and up to the present days, serving as a driving force for the outbreak of the ideas of flexibilization in Europe as an invitation to reconsider the legal instruments in terms of jobs. Admitted by the Brazilian legislation, such postulate took roots in the 1988 Constitution of the Republic in matters relevant for the Labor Law, as salary and working time, favoring the collective bargaining and originating new contract modalities and, mainly, the planning the distribution of labor hours for the benefit of the increment of the business sector, taken in the wake of the accelerated global market. The objective of the present study consists of the analysis of such influence, with centralized focus on the theme of management and remuneration of the subordinated working period and its different forms in Brazil. To the extent that, after three decades of acclimatization, the flexibility imperatives are repeatedly accused of having betrayed the social investment carried out and of provoking the general instability of labor relations, it is worth to investigate the reason why some institutes created under its subordination, among which the bank of hours, have been increasingly suffering rejection by the Unions and professional entities, which have continuously been putting pressure on the adoption of less conservative measures, in special, on the administration of the effective working hours. In this sense, innovations theoretically more beneficial to employees are pursued, among which the reduction of the weekly working time, without reducing the monthly salary standards, is the most ambitious and controversial proposal towards persistently targeting to create and maintain job posts.

O desemprego crescente é diagnosticado como um dos maiores males da globalização econômica durante o último quarto do século XX até os dias atuais, servindo de impulso para o surgimento do ideário da flexibilização na Europa como proposta de repensamento dos instrumentos jurídicos em matéria de trabalho. Acolhido na legislação brasileira, tal postulado deitou raízes na Constituição da República de 1988 em temas caros ao Direito do Trabalho como salário e jornada de trabalho, privilegiando a negociação coletiva e originando novas modalidades de contratos e, principalmente, de planejamento da distribuição das horas de labor em prol do incremento do setor empresarial, levado a reboque na espiral do acelerado mercado global. O objetivo do presente estudo consiste na análise desta influência, com foco centralizado no tema do gerenciamento e remuneração do período de trabalho subordinado e suas diversas formas. Na medida em que, após cerca de três décadas de aclimatação, os imperativos flexibilizatórios são seguidamente acusados de ter traído o investimento social realizado e de provocar a precarização geral das relações trabalhistas, importa investigar a razão pela qual alguns institutos criados sob seu jugo, entre eles o banco de horas, sofrem cada vez mais rejeição das centrais sindicais e das entidades profissionais, que pressionam de forma contínua pela adoção de medidas menos conservadoras, especialmente na administração do tempo de efetivo trabalho. Neste diapasão, buscam-se inovações em tese mais benéficas ao empregado, dentre as quais a redução do limite semanal do trabalho, sem diminuição do padrão salarial mensal, é a mais ambiciosa e polêmica proposta na persistente meta de criação e manutenção de postos de emprego. / The increasing unemployment is diagnosed as one of the major evils of economic globalization during the last quarter of the 20th Century and up to the present days, serving as a driving force for the outbreak of the ideas of flexibilization in Europe as an invitation to reconsider the legal instruments in terms of jobs. Admitted by the Brazilian legislation, such postulate took roots in the 1988 Constitution of the Republic in matters relevant for the Labor Law, as salary and working time, favoring the collective bargaining and originating new contract modalities and, mainly, the planning the distribution of labor hours for the benefit of the increment of the business sector, taken in the wake of the accelerated global market. The objective of the present study consists of the analysis of such influence, with centralized focus on the theme of management and remuneration of the subordinated working period and its different forms in Brazil. To the extent that, after three decades of acclimatization, the flexibility imperatives are repeatedly accused of having betrayed the social investment carried out and of provoking the general instability of labor relations, it is worth to investigate the reason why some institutes created under its subordination, among which the bank of hours, have been increasingly suffering rejection by the Unions and professional entities, which have continuously been putting pressure on the adoption of less conservative measures, in special, on the administration of the effective working hours. In this sense, innovations theoretically more beneficial to employees are pursued, among which the reduction of the weekly working time, without reducing the monthly salary standards, is the most ambitious and controversial proposal towards persistently targeting to create and maintain job posts.

This mixed-methods study examines factors determining employees' desire to reduce worktime. The results of a binary logit regression model, based on data from the Austrian Microcencus 2012, suggest that employees who prefer shorter weekly working hours are older, higher educated and work longer hours in white-collar positions, compared to those who do not wish to change their hours. Gender differences are greatest in terms of household and family characteristics, supporting the 'male breadwinner & part-time' model. Qualitative interviews have been conducted among employees who had the possibility to choose between a pay increase and equivalent leisure time via a new worktime policy ("Freizeitoption") implemented in 2013. The results suggest that employees with higher education tend to reduce worktime. The fact that money is valued from a long-term, security perspective, as well as the tendency of assessing work performances by output indicators can be regarded as major obstacles for worktime reductions. / Series: WWWforEurope