Why Do We Work 40 Hours A Week?
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- Опубліковано 1 кві 2021
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In this video, Mr. Beat explores why most of us have a 40-hour work week. Also, why the heck do we still work 40 hours a week?
Produced by Matt Beat. All images/video by Matt Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines. Music by Bad Snacks.
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-h...
www.weareteachers.com/teacher...
www.businessinsider.com/histo...
www.cultureamp.com/blog/40-ho...
www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/over...
www.cbsnews.com/news/most-ame...
www.tinypulse.com/blog/the-or...
www.lib.umd.edu/unions/labor/...
www.wired.com/story/eight-hou...
www.cnbc.com/2019/04/01/85per...
www.pbs.org/livelyhood/workda...
www.bbc.com/worklife/article/...
www.csmonitor.com/Business/20...
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Why do we work 40 hours a week, or 8 hours a day?
Well, throughout most of human history, the work schedule was more fluid. Take the hunter gatherers. Hunters hunted when they needed to hunt. Gatherers gathered when they needed to...you know...gather. And then once agriculture became a big deal, farmers plowed their fields, planted their seeds, harvested their crops, and fed their animals, as needed. Even today, it’s rather ridiculous to think of farmers clocking in to work at 9:00 and clocking out at 5. If anything, there are times of the year where they are just constantly working.
During the Industrial Revolution, those machines helped, but factory owners still greatly relied on the productivity of their workers. Without their workers, they would be screwed, as those expensive machines would just be collecting dust. So factory owners kept their factories open all day long and forced, er...I mean, ASKED their workers to work as much as possible. This led to the average factory worker working 90 hours a week.
What’s crazy is that the better the technology got, the harder the workers had to work. When more and more struggling farmers fled the countryside to the cities to seek work in the early 1800s, soon there were too many available workers, and so factory owners now had the leverage. This is why they began to get away with treating their workers like crap. Factory conditions sucked. Often, factories were poorly ventilated, so the air was dirty. They were also poorly lit. Workers were on their feet all day. And since the machines were often very dangerous, all of this combined led to many injuries on the job.
Needless to say, eventually the workers began to unite to demand better working conditions. After all, the factory owners would be screwed if ALL of them decided not to go into work. And thus, the labor union was born.
#8hourworkday #laborunions #history
How many hours do YOU work each week?
Should we push for a 30-hour work week?
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mr breast give me money
nice
I work 0 hours a week because I am a minor
Mr beat for president 2024
I work 8 hours day 5 days a week
In school
Sadly, 40 hours a week is no longer relevant in this era. Overworking is one of the main causes of depression and stress. We cannot consider 2-4 hours of driving, commuting, preparing, eating, taking a bath, etc as "play time".
Another reason to cut the amount of hours being worked
That's always been something of a depressing reality for me. The average person has a lot more than 8 hours of their day allocated towards their job, and that time benefits nobody. It's wasted time, energy, fuel, etc. I don't personally have a job that could allow me to work from home, but I still think it should be available, even encouraged, whenever possible for those who can. It also really just seems like the logical direction that work life is eventually heading.
It feeds on itself too. So in order to stay competitive, the owner and the worker have to work more hours. More and more and more and more hours adding an efficiency when possible. When efficiency is added we add even more hours. And that's what human life is all about I guess. First class up in the sky Poppin champagne living the life. Total f****** b*******
"I'm pretending to work at least"
Don't we all, don't we all...
Which is exactly the problem!
Hard at work, but hardly working!
My first job was a glorified gofer, and was told to “look busy” so I wasn’t doing stuff for anyone but my immediate boss. 12 years later I’m always skeptical about how busy people actually are at work.
You work 65-70hrs/week and produce cool content? Hot damn that's impressive.
Well I included the producing content as part of that 65-70 hours a week. But thank you!
You’re cool
4:16
“children as young as 5 worked in factories”
when i was 5 i still thought babies were made in factories... meanwhile these kids literally had to work in factories...
Ah yes, we get the children to make the children...
The Duality of Man...
Hoover Damn
@@PremierCCGuyMMXVIThats very FD Ridiculous
Reality sucks
@@duskobartok794 Dang...thought you were going for a Truman pun
Listen guys, he’s one of those cool teachers clearly, he has the guitar in the background.
And I actually play it in class sometimes. But for the record, that doesn't make me cool. :)
What makes you cool is that you work in blue valley district in Kansas.
@@iammrbeat Not cool. The coolest.
@@Joe-sd2kx nice for doxxing him
@@TheStonedPhilosopher47 he said in the video he works at blue valley schools and is from Kansas. I’m not trying to fox or anything. I just thought it was cool he works their. It’s just a simple comment.
One time my parents worked so hard they worked 25 hours in a single day
They worked so hard they needed an extra hour to get stuff done
I didn't know your parent's could bend time.
They had to walk up hill both directions in a blizzard thru traffic... parents do it all
oh yeah? my parents worked so hard they worked 27 hours in a single day
If they're gonna time travel, why don't they just bring a sports almanac instead of working their asses off?
Fun Fact the famous painting of George Washington crossing the Deleware river, the person behind him holding the American flag is James Monroe.
Damn that’s sick, just looked it up and he was 18 at the time. Thanks for sharing man
Haha, I literally just saw this in a Monroe book I was reading! I had no idea all these years!
I had forgotten about that!
I never knew that, dam
10:18
in USSR the eight-hour day was introduced four days after the october revolution, by a Decree of the soviet government in 1917
65-70 hours a week and you’re making UA-cam videos for us.
Thank you Mr. Beat.
To be fair, I included making UA-cam videos in that 65-70 hours.
@@iammrbeat Workers rights 😤
Nobody needs to be working that much
Is it just me or does every history teacher's office-corner-of-the-class area look exactly the same no matter the school lol
That's because most _schools_ look the same. lol
The 4 day work week is coming. Spain is already doing it and Scotland is working towards one.
We all need to push for this!
40 hour weeks? My workplace just asked us if we wanted to switch to a 10 hour 4 day work week.
@@elcocho1568 I'm pretty sure 32 hours a week. And yeah, my brother has a flexible employer so he's working four 10 hour days as well.
Exactly! Time is our most valuable resource and we shouldn't be spending it working for someone else!
@@Simon-tc1mc if its 10 hours 4 days a week then all it does is save commute time but employees will be more tired. We need less working hours. 40 hours a week was a distancing from overworking, 32 hours a week is a progression towards comfortable working hours.
32 hours a week is ideal *if* you get paid about $40 an hour or more
Where information about Soviet Russia?
“According to the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars on an eight-hour working day, adopted on October 29 (November 11) 1917, one of the first after the October Revolution,
The working time used in accordance with the internal regulations of the enterprise ... should not exceed 8 working hours per day and 48 hours per week, including the time spent on cleaning machines and tidying up the working area [19]”
It was before Spain
Mr Beat, thank you for what you do. i really wish i could’ve had a history/ social studies teacher like you in school. your passion and interest is infectious and your students are very lucky to have you.
That's really kind of you to say. Thank you!
@@iammrbeat Love your content!
@@iammrbeat of course! thank you for all of the great content!
Yeah, I go to school everyday. 8 hours a day. Wait... homework? What's that!?
Homework should be illegal. I get the reason homework, to force kids to study, but it doesn't work. Unless you do it like china and others and make exams super important. But kids should not be stressed out. There's no point in over educating if there's no jobs for said education
I agree, but have to also note that for me personally it drastically shifted over the years. Homeworks in High school were an absolute nightmare, but now in college they go by frequent homeworks but no exams whatsoever. I adore that system now, but I realize it probably has a lot to do with me finally studying what I'm interested in. Still, no stress from exams totally rules.
@@radekseky4571 University is a LOT of reading though. And we write a lot of papers, with one final exam for each course. You don't have final exams?
I don't give out homework.
One of my high school teachers had a system where he would teach for half the class and then answer questions and let us do worksheets for the other half. He designed it so that as long as we didn't goof off, we could finish the work before we left school. And if we goofed off, it would be homework.
I guess I didn’t really believe he was a teacher until seeing him in a physical school haha. Damn wish my HS history teachers had UA-cam’s!
There are more of us than you think. :)
I wanna be a teacher when I get older!
"Well I'm pretending to be working at least."
You and me both buddy.
I wonder how many viewers of this video watched it at work. :)
@@iammrbeat A lot I hope. Time clock fraud is a victimless "crime".
Dear Mr Beat, according to the decree of the government of the Soviet Union, the 8-hour working day was officially introduced in the USSR on 11 November 1917, much earlier than in Spain and Mexico.
I like you video a lot, but it sounds strange without mentioning this fact(
Dang I don't know how I missed that. Probably all the anti-Soviet propaganda.
@@iammrbeat xD
Well the USSR didn't exist in 1917, and they didn't even control all of Ruasia, at the very least it's up for debate who was the first one
Another salaried worker here. Definitely work much more than 40 hours a week. 😭
Yeah it can be awesome until it isn't.
Teaching is such an important job.
I have a feeling Mr. Beat just really liked the 2021 Halftime Show and is now a huge The Weeknd fan because of it.
He didn’t watch it and turned it off on me!!!!
@@shannonbeat Yeah sorry about that. I do like the Weeknd, though. I've loved his music for years actually.
@@shannonbeat Goddamnit @Mr. Beat. Why you gotta do family like that?
@@Token_Nerd don’t worry I turned it back on. How can you not watch the halftime show?!
@@shannonbeat When Maroon 5 is playing it.
Americans work more on average than people in all other developed countries, yet Americans make less, are guaranteed no vacation or sick days, or parental leave, and they can get fired for anything, even getting sick or having a baby.
MMMM Capitalism.
@@E.J.Crunkleton yep that's the problem
Nooo Mr Beat that steam joke wasn't bad, I lol'd really hard. Dad jokes are the best!
ha glad you liked it. It was _really_ bad.
Dad jokes usually are just so bad they are funny
This was a really great video. I was fortunate enough to have a History teacher like you who taught us about the history of labor unions and working conditions. Learning about the Battle of Blair Mountain was especially interesting given how large of an event it was compared to how little known it is.
Definitely an important event in history! Thanks for the kind words. 😊
Imo a 32 hour work week would be perfect. Make Wednesday a weekend day for a mid-week boost.
That sounds reasonable to me.
Agreed
Seriously
It is relly perfect. I used to work 7 hours a day (in Russia organisations must allow women to reduse working time if they have small children), I felt much less tired even doing the same work.
Thats stupid. Monday - Thursday sounds much better
I’ve wished for a simple 8 hour work day as an IB student. If only homework didn’t take so long!
Oh students work MUCH more than 8 hours a day. (good students do)
Being an IB student is tough
Man, this is something. Look at the sweatshops in developing countries that produce items for Apple and other companies. Terrible conditions. In China, workers there get paid very little to feed their families. Heard of Robert Owen from Eskify. Great job with this.
Amazon is living proof that we need to strengthen labor laws in this country
It’s really disturbing to think about how so much of the stuff we use everyday is produce via child labor in China
I think China and gulf countries don't have unions too
@@ShubhamMishrabro Yeah their workers have it pretty terrible
@@somebodyimportant3490 yes. Vietnam doesn't have unions too that's why many companies went there
100 hours a week. dang. i struggle to even work 40, especially on your feet. You are so informative. ive learned more from you in 1 day than I could in highschool in a week. keep up the great videos man
Will be using this on Monday to teach industrialization
I work on a farm and I can say that we still clock in and out and work by the hour lol. It’s just not a set schedule sometimes. You have to be prepared to work 6-10 hours every day, depending on what they have you do. If you’re really unlucky, you might even reach 15 hours!
Thank you for mentioning how labor rights were not gained through legislation and instead were gained through organization and radical action
Thanks for the water cooler talk in the morning, Mr. Beats. And sharing your day. Happy Good Friday.
I love these videos where you explain some of these mundane topics that we take for granted. It's so interesting learning about how the typical work week has progressed; I can't imagine working double or more than the usual 40 hours every week!
I know! 100 hours a week blew me away. Thanks for the nice comment.
A major step to decrease hours and have better working conditions was the aftermath of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in Manhattan.
That fire most definitely made an impact on that
Nice video man. Here in Denmark we only work 34 hours a week.
Denmark sounds like a paradise for working people compared to the US
@@somebodyimportant3490 Yes. But compared to many US cities, Denmark lacks fun activities.
@@jonatan0909 I'm sure there's fun stuff to do in Copenhagen!
@@somebodyimportant3490 Yeah, there is. If one likes european history. Having been to many american cities though, I have concluded that americans are nicer than danes. Danish people are nice enough when you know them. But not as friendly when you don't.
@@jonatan0909 But we don't have hygge! lol if you want to live in America, I'll gladly switch with you dude :)
Great video! I show my friends and family all your videos. This video was especially relatable! Keep up the great work!!
I hope your students are doing good and treating you well Mr. Beat!
I'm currently going to school to be a teacher, and it's really encouraging to hear that you love your job. So much negativity nowadays surrounding educators. Also, thanks for the informative videos you work hard to produce every week!
I'm so glad! It really is an amazing profession.
EXACTLY what I was looking for! Short and VERY INSIGHTFUL! Keep up the great work!
Thanks for making such good quality videos Mr. Beat!
You are my hero Mr. Beat
Awe
I’m a hardcore lurker on UA-cam and never comment but I wanted to say how much I enjoy these videos! I’m 22 and love furthering my education and understanding of history!
Just saw this. Thank you so much!
Teachers have always been best at explaining this stuff! 💕
Your content has giving me a ton of insight into America's history, government, and especially its presidents. Thank you so much and keep up the amazing work!
There's no point in making a 40 hr work week if you can't pay your bills with it. Life is a joke.
Keynes: one day we will only work 15 hours!
Capitalists: watch me ruin this man’s whole career
Keynes was a moron
Thank you Mr. Beat! Another great Friday video.
Well thank YOU.
Thank You too, Mr. Beat. I love watching your videos too.
I was JUST thinking about labor unions! Instant like
It's great to see Amazon employees unite to form a union.
as a union worker...no, Unions are a freaking joke
when the best your union can get you is a $1/hr raise...you need a new union
@@jabber1990 “My Union bad therefore all unions bad”
Thanks for helping the super rich exploit the working class, man.
@@parispc every single person I work with can find a non-union job that pays more, myself included
everyone who ever quit ends up finding a job that pays more and treats us better
we're just here because those places aren't hiring
@@parispc personally, I think we need to get rid of minimum wage. That'll fix alot of problems
8-hour work days don’t factor in getting ready for work, that 30 minute lunch, and the awful commute. So it’s more like a 10 hour work day roughly. 6-hours is fairer or 4 8-hour shifts.
Agreed. We’re so burned out by the time we reach day 5 of the week.
Another great video! Thanks, Mr. Beat!
Channels like Mr. Beat and Bruce Rivers for law have really energized my love for learning things again.
Nowadays, young workers only have to work 40 hours a week, AT EACH JOB. Most of them have to work multiple jobs (especially minimum wage workers) just to "put food on their families". I thought I had it rough as a young boomer, but now. fifty years later it's way worse.
There's a reason why I enjoy working for doordash. I make my own hours and on average I make a lot more per hour with this job than most jobs out there.
Although I'd be so much happier if I was in a position where I worked a regular job like doordash or another job that I like and also made a living on youtube. I know that when the time comes that I actually complete taking my python classes I'll probably have to be working a lot longer hours but I'd be making a lot more so there's that
That's true
I b sukn dek.
You're my go-to for understanding the states better.Thanks a lot, Mr.beast.
whenever Mr. Beat drops a new vid, ik da topic jus keeps getting better n better :)
Great topic today!
우리는 민주주의가 납치되는 것을 허용 할 수 없습니다. 우리는 무슨 일이 있어도 투표권을 통과해야합니다.
Hello senator
I see ur in LTE
Nice
You and Jon are doing great for the state of Georgia. Keep it up.
@@anvithkakkera7196 sameeee
man, I wish school was only limited to the 8 hrs(including homework time), and we didn't have to do homework outside of school.
Actually it mostly is. For the average american. school is 6.5 Hours and HW is 1.5 hours.
@@madhavgullapalli505 absolutely no student has ever gone to school for only 6.5 hours
@@dungeonbeast1087 I mean, I did?
8:30AM-3:30PM or 8AM-3PM was typical. When you reduce it by break and lunch it comes out to just about 6.5 hours.
In Finland, students take classes for 20 hours a week and get about 15-30 minutes of homework.
I never knew you were a teacher
That's so cool!
Amazing. Keep going!
I work in a factory and some weeks I had to work 70-80hrs. I work a ton of Saturdays and everything the labor movements fought for is being slowly rolled back.
At least your getting 30-40 hours of overtime pay.
@@help4343 I quit that job. The overtime there wasn't worth the stress, isolation, and alienation you felt. I had no time to spend with my family and was tired all the time
@@taustyz5875
I feel you man, I am single but working 60 hr weeks is still stressing me out. At least I am only working 5 twelve hour shifts a week now instead of 6.
Very interesting!
Heck yeah
This was great. Very easy to follow as a non history guy. Subbed
Thank you for this video. Fellow teacher here: THIS is what socialism is about: uniting us people who make below 50k$ and below, and striking until our society is economically way more just.
Too bad identity politics and culture war is keeping us from uniting.
Agreed
They need to abolish the 40 hour week and come up with something that fits into today’s world. 32 hours sounds about right.
I love your videos! I learn so many great(and not-so-great) things from them!
You're so funny in your vids, so I assume you make your students laugh
Sometimes I do 😆. Sometimes they just roll their eyes. Thanks for the kind words.
@@iammrbeat you're welcome! I wanna be a teacher in a few years
Because I love kids, and I'm very bright
Thank you for what you do!
Great job man, It would be awsome to have a teacher like you 👍
"8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep, 8 hours for play"
Laughs at Filipino traffic, typically taking ~5 hours just for the travel time (includes an apparently 1 hour per day stuck in traffic).
I think it's gross how much Americans must work every week to gain only so little in return. I do question how much of this is due to pure workforce size and fear of inflation.
This is important for people who worked hard so they can get energy filled up
Great video
Teachers absolutely deserve a higher wage and more respect
I know I am biased, but I tend to agree with that statement. :)
@@iammrbeat Are you unionized?
I love that Betsy Ross flag on the wall. Keep up.the great work Mr. Beat.
UA-cam media sensation is an understatement you are a legend
ah definitely going to enjoy this.
1:24 cut-off label. Time to downvote :P
that is the question I ask myself everyday
My mom an elderly woman has to work 50 hours a week so that is even worse than forty for a normal person
We work more now because get paid less am i right? i feel like I'm right.
Thank you for making a video about working class history
Heck yeah!
I love to see your vids about the presidents and the presidential elections. They're so informational. Keep up the good work.
I wish I was a student in one of Mr. Beats classes xD
Ha Useful Charts chart in the background
Nice video Mr. Beat
Amazing video bro, really interesting
Started working in a skilled trade apprentice at 13 years old and full tradesman by 18. Worked 50 to 60 hours a week. In the military I pulled many 24 hour work days and several times worked over 36 hours straight. Later in life I stated teaching and lecturing and now am paid to work on base pay for one hour at my leasure. Never hurts to advance your expertise.
I'd rather have Wednesday and Saturday off instead of Saturday and Sunday.
There is actually some mental science to back you up having split up days off for rest to prevent the week from dragging in and getting recouperated .
Have you heard of the UA-camr CGP Grey? He has a great video on why its better to have the weekend on Wednesday and Saturday. People would be able to have a better time because they aren't as tired, and productivity might go up!
My old work schedule had me off Sundays and Wednesdays. There are advantages and disadvantages to that schedule.
I'd rather have Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday off.
Great video! But sad face for no mention of Samuel Gompers and the AFL.
Gotta love that world history chart in the background
Political activity of workers a hundred years ago - instead of a 96-hour work week, a 40-hour work week.
No political activity for a hundred years - still 40 hour work week.
Short answer: "because unions fought for it."
Long answer: "because unions fought for it."
Thanks teach.
Love the video
Mr. Beat: A teacher works 42 hours a week
Me: ::cries in special education teacher and high school wrestling coach::
So you have EXTRA jobs. :)
Sad that wages have not kept up with productivity since the late 70’s
Great video!
Thanks John!
We love you too Mr Beat!!!!!
$7.50. That’s the reason for a lot of us
$7.25 per hour is the minimum wage in Kansas, unfortunately.
Thank socialists, communists, and labor activists for the labor reforms of the 1930s.
Based
But, but socialism is bad mkay....
Exactly.
@@E.J.Crunkleton may i ask why socialism is bad??
@@sj_leee4995
A better question is, who is socialism bad for?
I am for socialism, I was just throwing in a little sarcasm.
I like how your school looks Mr. beat
I’d rather see a productivity work week. In other words, you get your work done in 5.5-6 hours, you get to go home but still get paid for a full day’s work. That, or, cap it at 32 hrs. a week which is far more ideal.