It's no secret that the “reasoning” behind working 40 hours a week is being able to afford one of the highest expenses being rent or a mortgage. Since that alone used to take up 30% of your pay has risen to 35% or even 40% in some areas. You just need money for everything. Money for a roof over your head, gas, food, clothes, cooking equipment, etc. That's not even including any entertainment that people deem to be not essential. Yet who wants to work a long as day only to come back home to a place you can't do anything in because you're spending all your money on essentials with non left over for entertainment which helps you destress from having a long day of work. If everything wasn't so damn expensive I could see people wanting to take a part time job or a job that allowed you to work 20 or 30 hours a week instead. Yet it doesn't make sense to if it can't even pay the bills. It's either you work 40 + hours and make sure the pay is good or rely on the government's help with affordable housing.