Sundays!! All Businesses need to stop running on Sundays.

[Felicia]

I think it would help togetherness in families to generally have people work less.

[Cordelianne]

I don't think it is realistic anymore, most people are very busy. We do shopping a lot on Saturday, sometimes together as well, so I am not sure whether it would help the togetherness in families, because it depends on what you do together.

[Robert]

I work 6 days a week in fall and winter, Sunday is my day off and that is when I have to run around and get things done. So I have to say that if businesses were closed I personally would be screwed. LOL!

[Ana, Our Shared Shelf Moderator]

I agree that generally speaking, the idea of working to live and not living to work would be enough to boost togetherness, family time and other lovely concepts. Sunday having to be that day, hmmm. Not necessarily. As some mentioned above, it's not really feasible for many. Plus it has quite a bit of a religious meaning -the Sabbath,

But yeah, often we forget how trapped we've become in this whole notion of our society being a giant, sophisticated mechanism in which sometimes we are not even a cog, but the oil that helps it move smoothly. :(

[Gerd]

Ana wrote: "Sunday having to be that day, hmmm. Not necessarily. As some mentioned above, it's not really feasible for many. Plus it has quite a bit of a religious meaning -the Sabbath, ..."

We could settle for Monday, nobody likes to work on Moanday. :)
And it would be the not so religiously connected, commonly known as "day after Sabbath" day.

But seriously, people if you only have time on Sunday to do your foraging - you're in deep trouble, because pretty soon you will have to create an eight day then for those who have to work seven days a week to find time...

[Ashley]

until very recently, I worked weird schedules and, more often than not, did not have weekends off. my family and I would qork around each others schedules. somwtimes, the sacrifices people had to make to come together made it feel like it meant a little more. other times, we could not come together to have meaningful time. now, I'm on a flex schedule, which I think works well. it's less about each of us having a specific day, but more about being able to have the days we need.

[Indigo]

If Monday was a break day, then Tuesday would become the most hated day. Saying this as someone who was able to get out of the whole mandatory schooling and standard work week and noticed that whatever day I resumed work, became my hated day, whether or not it lined up with Monday.

Having Sunday be a mandatory businesses closed day just smacks of too much religious undertones for me. That was always the "traditional forced day" thanks to Christianity trying its best to dominate every goddamn thing in my country. Whether secular people even liked it or not. Their voices didn't matter in the face of those Christians who wanted the whole country to follow Christianity regardless of our goddamn constitution trying to stop that with the "Separation between Church and State" rule.

As some other posters have mentioned, some only have Sunday free to do their personal errands and get things done before heading back into work again. For those who need to work a lot in order to support their family, cutting down one of the possible days to bring in income is NOT going to help them one bit. They will NOT thank you. The solution there is to go directly to the source of them having to work so much - inability to support a family with an actual living wage from one job alone. Ya know, you used to do that? But now it's somehow sooooooooooo terrible to even consider or mention?

People will be far more likely to actually manage family togetherness... when they don't have to balance as many jobs as they can just to put food on the table, pay all the bills, and even have a chance of keeping a home. Making one day of the week be a mandatory rest day isn't really going to help them in the long run. It's just a tiny bandage over a bone bruise, for most of the working population (especially the immigrants and the poor). Sure it makes the visible sign of it disappear for a short while, but it does jack-sh*t nothing to actually deal with the real cause underneath, and encourages it to fester out of sight.

So I would ask some very good hard questions of yourself why you think just one mandatory rest day a week is something that you think would somehow lead to more togetherness with one's family, when there are so many pressing causes for that separation in today's world, one of the biggest being lack of money needed for continued survival. And why you jump to the idea of mainstreaming one forced day of rest, instead of something that could actually tackle the real root causes of such a problem? Just a suggestion.

[Felicia]

In Denmark, the working week is 37 hours, so around 7-8 hours a day Monday to Friday. Of course, some people have to work other schedules, but at least I think that everyone, independent on when they work, work around 37 hours a week. (Anyone from DK, correct me if I'm wrong.) That means you have evenings and weekends with your family, because it's possible to support yourself and your children on a normal wage from one job. This, I think, is the key.

[Gerd]

Indigo wrote: "If Monday was a break day, then Tuesday would become the most hated day. Saying this as someone who was able to get out of the whole mandatory schooling and standard work week and noticed that what..."

The problem is naturally unchecked capitalism, forcing workers to put in more hours for less pay.

[Ashley]

indigo, you made a point that I hadn't taken consideration.w

[Pam]

Yeah, why Sundays? Jewish faith dictates that the Sabbath is from sun down Friday to sundown Saturday. So I suppose it depends on your community /family choice.

I've tried to instil something of an electronic Sabbath. But only for Sunday morning. From the moment I wake to noon I dont allow electronics. I read, make breakfast, walk the dog, meet friends for brunch, clean etc. Its really nice! Its self imposed, but following some ideas above it does help to reconnect and slow down.

[Ellen]

As someone who has done plenty of casual and shift work (weekend/nights etc) as well as 9-5 office hours I feel like this would be a nightmare.

When I worked in McDonalds I worked EVERY Saturday, so I was relying on businesses to be open on a Sunday if I wanted to do anything with my weekend (whether this was shopping, cinema, going out for food).

Now as someone who works 9-5 office hours the only day I can get to the bank or post office for anything is Saturday. If all other businesses were also closed Sunday I would have to spend every Saturday doing errands and food shopping. The alternative would be that I would be pushed to buying more online which is worse surely?

Also having been in difficult financial situations when I was at university I welcomed the opportunity to take on shifts on Sat/Sun as I needed the money (some people get a premium Sunday rate so actually want to work then).

In terms of togetherness my book club meet in a café on Sundays, I routinely go out for Sunday lunch or brunch etc. Closing businesses doesn't necessarily facilitate togetherness - it could even hinder it as people have fewer places to meet up.

I have seen calls for this kind of thing every bank holiday, every Christmas etc and ultimately I think it only benefits people who have a fair bit of privilege. While I understand that companies may take advantage of some workers, many people need businesses to be open, either for the services or because they need to work.

I'm not an economist but I can also only imagine what effect closing businesses would have on the economy!