According to a new Sina survey, 88% of those polled support having a three-day weekend, to improve their personal standard of living with China’s socio-economic development.
Advocators pointed to several European countries that have successful four-day work weeks, such as the Netherlands that has one of Europe’s highest labor productivity level while enjoying 29-hour work weeks.
Renmin University of China’s expert in leisure economics, Professor Wang Qiyan, also cited Denmark, which works only 37.7 hours per week, yet is ranked "the world’s happiest country."
Critics argue, employees in China are given only five days of paid leave within a year, on average. And when they take national holidays off, they must make them up by working through the weekends prior to the following holiday, Global Times reported.
Twenty years ago, China implemented five-day work weeks, down from six-day work weeks prior to 1995.
People were only able to take one-to-three-day vacation, which evolved to seven-days holidays, known by the “Golden Week,” by the year 2000.
By then, holidays became more of an opportunity to consume rather than an occasion to relax, according to Global Times.
Professor Wang hopes to achieve an official four-day work week by 2030, calling on China’s leaders to reward the people for their “collective exhaustion” that played a major role in the country’s economic growth.
