Personally, I do think working fewer hours makes me more productive. But that’s not why I do it. The real reason is that I have other things I’d rather do. An hour that I don’t spend working (and I work hard, believe me, and like what I do), is an hour sitting on the couch with my kids, reading a science-fiction novel and pausing intermittently to chat about their video games or YouTube favourites. It’s an hour cooking a meal, going for a walk or doing volunteer work. It’s when I can act as one node in the lively neighbourhood web of parents, grandparents and afterschool programmes for kids, organising hangouts and snacks. It’s also when I pay bills, run errands, execute minor home repairs, and hire others to tackle major ones – so neither I nor my husband have to do that stuff on weekends.

Part-time work is humane and should be respected and encouraged

Just imagine what you could so with a few hours extra a week. Home cooked meals, helping the kids with homework before dinner, time to enjoy more of the daylight through the darker months, the chance to fit more in during the evening. Deifnitely something I would like to see happen, for all these reasons and more.