What’s the ideal workweek? New research puts it at 37 hours

New research from economists at Duke University has estimated that the optimal workweek is about 37 hours, roughly five hours less than full-time workers there typically report working.The study was based on research involving full-time workers in Germany, who predominately stated they wanted to work fewer hours.They found that the optimal workweek is about 37 hours, just a few hours shy of the traditional 40.This is less than the expected 40-hour workweek in the U.S., which was established in 1940 under the Fair Labor Standards Act.RELATED STORY | The scary side of job hunting: Ghost jobs, fake listings and AI scamsAccording to a Gallup report, the average full-time employee in the U.S. reported working roughly 43 hours a week in 2024. That is down slightly from 44.1 hours in 2019.The findings come as lawmakers consider a proposal that would make 32 hours the standard workweek and require overtime beyond that point.The latest version of the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, which was intr