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Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

cnn.com

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Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#51

Post by cableshaft »

WillyWonkaJr wrote: post #36
cableshaft wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially for something like Social Security safety nets, which relies on a larger younger population paying into it. I'm not sure if Japan has an equivalent but I think they do.

This is a great argument for individual retirement accounts rather than using the young to pay for the elderly. In the United States, if everyone's social security tax were put in an index fund, then everyone would be millionaires upon retirement. There are solutions other than pleading with people to have more kids.

I do already put money into a 401k. I will likely be a millionaire before retirement, assuming no major catastrophes and steady employment in jobs that pay at a similar level (adjusted for inflation) before then.

I don't know if the same would be true for most people, though (I make significantly more than the average household income -- although probably less than a lot of people here because I'm not making Silicon Valley money -- and I don't have children).

It's an interesting idea worth exploring, but I'm not sure if just switching social security money to retirement accounts would be sufficient.

Administration and making sure people don't dig into them before retirement would potentially be very expensive too (although to be fair, I'm sure Social Security administration costs are very high also).

Are you aware of any studies that analyze such a solution? I imagine there must be something out there.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#52

Post by brtkdotse »

WillyWonkaJr wrote: post #18

Japan is forecast to still have 50 million people in 2120. I wouldn't call this a population crisis. With some rewilding it could be quite pleasant! I suspect companies are afraid of not growing, and governments are afraid to cut spending. Source: https://www.jcer.or.jp/english/new-population-projection-how...

It's not great if it's 15 million supporting 35 million children, elderly and sick.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#53

Post by bbqfog »

bee_rider wrote: post #39
WillyWonkaJr wrote: post #18

Japan is forecast to still have 50 million people in 2120. I wouldn't call this a population crisis. With some rewilding it could be quite pleasant! I suspect companies are afraid of not growing, and governments are afraid to cut spending. Source: https://www.jcer.or.jp/english/new-population-projection-how...

A lot of Japanese videogames seem to be set in a sort of pseudo-post-apocalyptic sort of setting (Final Fantasy comes to mind), where it isn’t like… mad max raider stuff, but it is clear that society once was larger and more developed, and now things are diminished with some remnants. I’m wonder if their population dynamics inspired that.

WWII is a much more likely inspiration.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#55

Post by yoyohello13 »

nkzd wrote: post #45
reverendsteveii wrote: post #29

I feel like it's been a long time fretting over falling birth rates and this is the first time I've seen anyone float the idea that making life better for people might make them a bit more inclined to make more people.

I am not sure about this one. In the past, quality of life was terrible compared to modern life but fertility was not an issue.

People didn’t have a choice back then. So the two options now are: “force people to have kids” or “make life better for people so they want kids”. I’d like to think we’ve evolved enough as a society to choose the later option.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#56

Post by WillyWonkaJr »

MBCook wrote: post #3

I wish these stories would say if the hours are changing or not. 32 hours, 4 days a week seems better to me. But if all you do is take 40 hours and make it 10 hour days I’m not that much happier.

100% -- We've been promised more free time due to AI. Probably better to cash in now before this promise is rescinded.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#57

Post by bee_rider »

WillyWonkaJr wrote: post #36
cableshaft wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially for something like Social Security safety nets, which relies on a larger younger population paying into it. I'm not sure if Japan has an equivalent but I think they do.

This is a great argument for individual retirement accounts rather than using the young to pay for the elderly. In the United States, if everyone's social security tax were put in an index fund, then everyone would be millionaires upon retirement. There are solutions other than pleading with people to have more kids.

In the end, it is a matter of the amount of labor done by the future generation to support the previous one, vs the amount they do for themselves, right? I mean, we can account for it however we want, but if every elderly person was a millionaire, I guess we’d just have… very high demand for the types of doctors that serve the elderly.

The money doesn’t take care of people, people paid by the money do.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#58

Post by WillyWonkaJr »

brtkdotse wrote: post #52
WillyWonkaJr wrote: post #18

Japan is forecast to still have 50 million people in 2120. I wouldn't call this a population crisis. With some rewilding it could be quite pleasant! I suspect companies are afraid of not growing, and governments are afraid to cut spending. Source: https://www.jcer.or.jp/english/new-population-projection-how...

It's not great if it's 15 million supporting 35 million children, elderly and sick.

Here's a case where robotics and other innovations can help out.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#59

Post by Nickersf »

I don't think it will boost the fertility rate in any significant way. I think the only way to really make a dent in low fertility rates is to incentivize mothers to stay at home and men to work full-time at least for the first five years of a child's life. I know people disagree with this, but it's worth considering if the declining birth rates are a major concern for the State.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#60

Post by Asraelite »

bbqfog wrote: post #49
nkzd wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure about this one. In the past, quality of life was terrible compared to modern life but fertility was not an issue.

Was it more terrible? You certainly had more organic social connections and family support. Physically tougher than a modern white collar job? Sure. Better than commuting and working for some shitty boss though!

Try asking that after spending a while living in a tenement building with 3 people per room and frequent outbreaks of dysentery and smallpox.
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