9-5 was invented by Henry Ford. And wages he paid were for the time was phenomenal. Not to mention was an improvement over the previous 10-12 hour days in even worse conditions.

9 to 5's seem like they used to be rewarding and pay well, but these days it's just to barely even survive

They were at one point. Company Pensions helped with a secure retirement. Social Security further padded it. You got nifty benefits. You could also pay for a college education working part time. Insurance was pretty good. You could support a family of 4-5 on one modest income. So one spouse could run errands and spend time with the kids.

Most places were either closed or operated on reduced hours/skeleton crews on weekends. Not to mention frequently closed early in the evening during weekdays. So most people had guaranteed days/time off. That’s no longer the case.

And these days it is barely enough to survive. Most people want to completely blame one thing. But a series of factors played in. Corporate Culture changed and became focused on cutting corners and squeezing out every last cent for ‘Shareholder Value’. Which meant bye-bye pensions and other benefits.

The value of the dollar collapsed. Companies became forbidden by law from competency testing as too many Minorities were failing. So a College Degree/Technical Certificate became essentially a requirement for employment. Signaling the end of the ‘Firm Handshake and you’re in the door’ type culture. The labor force essentially doubled as Women entered various industries in mass. Which depressed those wages.

Various trade protectionism policies were lifted. Which essentially signaled the start of deindustrialization as U.S companies couldn’t compete with foreign companies who were being subsidized majorly by their governments. Not to mention had laxer employment and safety standards. Meaning it was easier to cut corners and you could pay foreign labor Pennys for the same labor. So U.S companies outsourced.

I've always had to work 8-5. 9-5 would be a luxury.

9am to 5pm weekdays only.. and MOST stores/businesses would be closed at 5pm and for the weekend and almost always on Sunday-> USE to be the standard. It was kinda like, up and into work at daybreak and back home at dusk (most time of the year anyway). <-again, most households had one parrent working and one staying home as to take care of house, go shopping while stores are open and all that.

For a good amount of jobs now there is no real "weekends off expectations" and no set time in and out of work. It is all what ever the weekly schedule is for the week for every employee. Unless the store/business you happen to work for still shuts down for the weekend. EDIT to add, when it was like before with Dad going to work and mom staying home all day, IMO women in stable households with a good man would of had tons more freedom in a day to be creative, make home goods, have fun with the other ladies in the area, be out and about.. as long as she did her part with making sure the home was tidy and food was prepared for the family, make sure the children were cared for.. all the things that the Dad wouldnt have time in a day to do because, he was stuck at work from dawn till dusk. heh.

Why 9-5 most jobs are 8 hours a day no matter what time you go in. They are all suffocating and no one likes their job. They have it to survive. If you are asking did the deep state do this to people the answer is yes. Just like they made it so women would have to go out to work instead of staying home with the kids.

Now they are destroying the family in every way possible. No one was supposed to spend their entire lives working a job they hate.

All I can say if you are growing up in this is find a job you would love because if you want to survive you do have to work and you might as well work at something you love.

By the way thats exactly why they used covid to destroy most small businesses because they do not want you having a good life by having your own business.

Everything done to us since 2013 has been designed to screw us in every way possible.

They were not getting the hate though for other people from anyone so they created the internet.

And don't forget all the glorious commutes with all the other 9 - 5 schlubs, many with road rage.

It's all by design...

Invented by Henry Ford.

40 Hours too much? Please! There are 168 hours in a week. Subtract the 10 days vacation and 6 paid holidays and you are down to 37.5 hours. I'm onboard with the rest of your comments. Working 22.3% of your time is nothing...

If 40 hours doesn't pay the bills work 50, if that's not enough work 60... The problem lay with working for somebody, but ask people who have their own successful business and they will laugh at your complaint that a 40 hour week is just too much.

I agree , I had a hard time working "nine to five " whenever I did. I guess I feel lucky. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up so tried all sorts of jobs. Cleaned toilets, hauled trash, restaurant cook, gas station attendant etc. I went to the university and hated it. Made it through a year and a half of that shit. Went home to a local community college and took two years of trade school. Started a career working in industrial plants. Mostly rotating 12 hour shifts , 14 days/nights a month on and 14 days/nights off. Made good money, had insurance and now retired. It is all about what you do in life I guess. I feel like god was watching over me and put me where I needed to be. I am blessed!

Yes, we should be working until around 30, then be able to afford everything thing we need to start and provide for a family. We would still be working, but it would be in our own home/land setting up our children to do the same in 30 years.

Find something You love to do and you'll never work a day in your life. A 9 to 5 is just how the Capitalistic world works. You trade your time for money. There are countless even endless ways to make money but most fall into the 9 to 5 because the school systems train us all since kindergarten. Also most jobs are 8 to 12 hour days depending on the job due to what's required of that job.

The true issue at hand is when You as an individual are FORCED to either have health insurance or pay a fine. They alone, especially in the US, is a controlling factor for most people when job seeking. The issue is however if you have health insurance you actually end up paying more out of pocket for services rendered at hospitals and clinics than the uninsured. THAT is basically forced servitude and penalties for that servitude. Crazy isn't it?

It ALL boils down to Government. When the health care industry as well as all other major industries have their people on government boards then you end up with laws, rules, and regulations that serve THEM and them only. The entire system has been Corrupted for way too long.

There's allot more to it than the 9 to 5. It's all of it. Yes, we have freedom. Freedom to live within the set of rules that THEY make for US. Your free to not work, but then you'll be homeless, uninsured and a vagrant. Being a vagrant is actually against the law in allot of places so working that 9 to 5 and playing the game is what everyone does to survive.

The only way to change it is for everyone to say ENOUGH ALREADY and take back their freedom and liberties and shredding the rule book that THEY wrote. Good luck with that though. ✌️ ✌️

"The roots of American labor law can be traced back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a time marked by rapid industrialization, long workdays, exploitative wages, and unsafe working conditions. With minimal regulatory oversight, workers, including children, labored in factories, mines, and construction sites for 10–16 hours a day with little pay and virtually no safety protections."

What you made was spent at the company store

"the company store evolved into a complex system intertwined with wages, debt, and social control"

The reality of work prior to modern American Labor Law which established, among other things, the 40 hr week

Illegal immigrants and offshoring under cut wages and the benefits and protections of labor law.

Try 10 hours days 6 or 7 days a week.

This isn't about the 40 hours. It's about the compensation. Minimum wage has not kept up with inflation or the rising costs of living in america, not by a LOT.

Min wage should be around 50 / hr, not 8 ish or whatever it is today (sorry, retired)

So when they are saying raise minimum to 20 I have to laugh. 20 is what it should have been in the 1990s. It's 50 now. Where am I getting this?

https://usdebtclock.org/

The DS would rather you work more. Thanks, Henry Ford. I think he did some other good things that I can't remember right now. They want to keep us busy so we don't have the time to question things like how we are enslaved. It's one of the bad parts about being awake.

There are many levels of financial education. Take a look at https://mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/ and compare it to how much most financial coaches, including Dave Ramsey, recommend you save for retirement. Now is FIRE a scam to get you to dump most of your income into the stock market? Maybe. But I can't help but think all of this last 6 years was to make us work longer instead of retiring early.

Depending on the person Big Tech may steal more of your time than the IRS. I think there are enough distractions now that standard work week can be reduced below 40 hours. Except, if hours were reduced much more, parents could work about 30 hours each at different times and avoid the need for daycare. They don't want that.