298. Kellogg's 6-Hour Day

<p>In the midst of the Great Depression, cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s switched to a shorter, six-hour day. This continued a trend that seemed inevitable: people would work less and less. But economic policies, management strategies, and cultural attitudes changed. The story of the rise and fall of Kellogg’s six-hour day is a microcosm of these changes, as well as of our attitudes about the roles of money, leisure, work, and women and men.</p> <h3><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --></h3> <p>In the book, <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/dp/1566394473?tag=kadavyinc-20"><em>Kellogg’s 6-Hour Day</em></a>, historian Benjamin Kline Hunnicutt shares his findings in studying Kellogg’s shorter workday. His main sources of information were 434 interviews conducted by the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, 124 interviews he himself conducted of workers, and 241 responses to a survey he had sent. What follows is a summary of the story, and Hunnicutt’s findings.</p> <h3><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --></h3> <h3>Kellogg’s switched to a 6-hour day to create jobs</h3> <h3><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --></h3> <p>During the Great Depression, American businesses took on a policy of “work sharing.” The idea was that fewer would be unemployed if everyone shared jobs – more workers, working fewer hours. So, on December 1, 1930, W. K. Kellogg changed most departments in Kellogg’s Battle Creek, Michigan plant from three eight-hour shifts to four six-hour shifts.</p> <h3><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --></h3> <h4>A shorter workday had seemed inevitable</h4> <h3><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --></h3> <p>This continued a decades-long trend of shorter working hours. Labor activist William Heighton had written in 1827 that the workday should be reduced from twelve hours to ten, eight, and so on, “until the development and progress of science have reduced human labour to its lowest terms.” John Stuart Mill had written in 184