Public holidays
“Maybe five weeks of vacation instead of six”
The removal of a holiday is one of the measures that are supposed to bring billions of additional income to the state, as economists estimate. Is the elimination of a holiday worth it if wages rise proportional? IW expert Schröder in an interview.
In order to finance the planned billions in debt in Germany, a proposal is particularly controversial: the deletion of a holiday. Why should the workers stand up for the debt package?
The proposal is not about taking something away from the employees. Rather, he should set a sign: We currently have to deal with a number of challenges. The Germany location is not attractive. We have to lure more foreign investors into the country again. But we also need enough workers for this. We lack the specialists in many skilled workers. So that we get the money on the street and we free ourselves from economic stagnation, the abolition of a holiday is a signal that we need longer working hours. And also: The deletion of a holiday could also be associated with a higher wage.
So far, a potential increase in wages has been somewhat under the discussion.
Many employees get a fright with the proposal. In the end it is a question of design. In Denmark, wages rose by 0.45 percent as part of the abolition of a holiday – so practically proportional to the working days.
The IW calculated that an additional working day could bring the German economy up to 8.6 billion euros. On the occasion of a debt of 500 billion euros, a drop on the hot stone, right?
The 8.6 billion euros is additional economic output. So not necessarily the additional tax revenues. That would of course be even less. The proposal is intended to create an incentive to talk about longer working hours again than about additional free days. In itself, the savings potential has a symbolic effect. However, there is already a lot together over a long distance of around ten to twelve years. Of course, it is not enough overall.
Their calculation also shows that the effects would not be the same in all industries.
We see the lowest effects in the energy industry. Only industry consumes more electricity when abolishing a holiday, nothing would change in the households. In the hospitality industry and in the leisure area, there could even be negative effects. As soon as people no longer go out in one day off, it is noticeable. However, where specialists are scarce, there can of course be strong effects. In the construction industry you cannot easily catch up with a unusual working day.
Why does it make a difference whether a potential holiday in summer or winter is canceled?
To stay with the construction industry: For reasons of weather, it cannot be worked in winter. The cranes stand still with snow and ice. Companies therefore often use seasonal short -time work. Depending on the industry, there are different effects in summer or winter. Some have a lot to do in the run -up to Christmas. Other industries make their biggest sales in spring and summer.
How easy would it be to delete a holiday?
A deletion is complicated, after all, the holiday regulations in the individual federal states are different. The proposal is not exactly popular either. Politicians don’t necessarily want to touch this ‘hot iron’. There is already loud criticism-such as the CDU’s worker wing.
The idea is anything but new. In order to finance the long-term care insurance, the day of penance and bed was deleted in 1995. What did that bring the economy back then?
At that time that was around six billion D-Marks. The 8.6 billion, which we have now calculated as upper value, are basically a update of the numbers from the then expert council report – adapted to our current conditions.
Disadvantages would have the abolition of a holiday, especially for employees. Finally, they serve to relax. Shouldn’t workers be spared better?
With a current investigation by our institute for workload and for job satisfaction, it turned out: for full -time employees, the burden is not higher than for those who work part -time. There is only heavy load from a working time of 48 hours. A holiday is not urgently needed to relax. Especially since employees in Germany also have six weeks of vacation. We are internationally at the top and the annual working hours are at a low level even for full -time employees.
The world of work is changing: demand for more vacation days and shorter working hours are piling up. Wouldn’t it be time for a more innovative approach?
The proposal to abolish a holiday is just a stone that is supposed to get a debate rolling. Of course, employees can still identify individual regulations in their companies. But it is also clear that a longer weekly working time would have a higher effect. In theory, it would also be worth considering whether every employee needs six weeks of vacation – maybe it will also do five weeks, of course with correspondingly higher wages.
Regardless of employees. Who do you see in the obligation?
Of course, companies also have to act in the interests of the state by investing, increasing productivity and creating jobs.
When Denmark deleted a public holiday last year in favor of the armor expenditure, the waiver developed into a political issue. Unions and churches protested. How high do you rate acceptance within the German population?
I do not appreciate the willingness as particularly strong, but it has grown in recent years. The expenses for armor and security have increased. Unlike in the past, we can no longer just sit back. That also depends on the population. Europe has to be more active. At the same time we see: growth optimism has decreased significantly. A sign à la ‘Now it is spit back into the hands, we increase the gross national product’ as a sign of the spirit of optimism.
Juliane Kipper spoke to Christoph Schröder
This article was first published by ntv.de
Source: Stern
