Would you rather work four days a week or earn 20% more?

Q: Choose a four day workweek: pros and cons

Pros: More time for personal commitments; Fewer weekly commuting trips; Additional time for recovery; Greater flexibility for weekday errands. Cons: Forgoes the higher earnings offer; Potentially longer individual workdays; Possible increase in daily workload; Reduced overlap with some colleagues.

Q: Choose twenty percent higher pay: pros and cons

Pros: More room for essential expenses; Greater capacity for emergency savings; Faster repayment of outstanding debt; More funding for long term goals. Cons: Less time outside the workplace; Taxes reduce the take home increase; Additional workday expenses may apply; Fewer opportunities for weekday appointments.

Growing up, I was told that it's all about climbing a ladder, making more money, getting your bonuses, getting raises. And I think that the 20% sounds like that, except that now that I'm a grown person and I've done the work, I actually just want to do less work, which I find more valuable. And what I mean by less work is not working less or being lazy, but it's actually about working harder in less time so that I can have the balance, which is more valuable to me than 20%, which anyway sounds like it would probably just go to taxes.

Would you rather work four days a week or earn 20% more?

Key Arguments

Choose a four day workweek

Choose twenty percent higher pay

Community Opinions

Opinion by @curiousMe