Hours of Work in U.S. History

Robert Whaples

Economic History
Welfare Economics: Allocative Efficiency, Externalities, Fairness, Altruism
Labor and Demographic Economics
Law and Economics
Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth

Article

This article presents estimates of the length of the historical workweek in the U.S., describes the history of the shorter-hours "movement," and examines the forces that drove the workweek's decline over time.