John Maynard Keynes was a brilliant economist, but he didn’t get everything right. In 1930 he promised us technological progress would mean endless leisure because we’d only be working 15 hours a week by 2030. You’ll have noticed we’re way off track – full-time workers still average more than double that, with only eight years to go.
He was also wrong in believing that reducing average hours worked would translate into more leisure time. In fact, the amount of leisure time we have has actually fallen over the past 40 years. Why? Partly because total paid work per household hasn’t fallen, it has just shifted from men to women as the slow death of the patriarchy proceeds – Keynes didn’t see that coming.
