From Alternet: http://www.alternet.org/economy/america-has-forgotten-we-dont-have-freedom-if-we-dont-have-free-time
The debate over Obamacare and voluntary work reduction raises intriguing questions.
By Lynn Stuart Parramore
February 10, 2014
What exactly is human progress? If progress is the growth of opportunities, then we should welcome developments that give us more options in how we spend our time and structure our lives. But when we get trapped in the mindset of eternal scarcity and laboring until our last breath, we stop imagining that there could be any path in front of us except more and more work.
A recent report on Obamacare by the CBO found that the law will nudge workers to work less. Why? Because if you don’t have to take a full-time job just to get coverage, then maybe you won’t. Conservatives are interpreting the report to mean that Obamacare is a “job killer.” But they’re deliberately missing the fact that the work reduction in this case is voluntary.
“The estimated reduction stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply,” says the report.
Assuming the CBO is correct about this voluntary reduction, what’s so bad about it? Why would anyone be up in arms about the idea of a person choosing, of her own free will, to work less?
If you’re a 60-year-old retail worker with diabetes, you’ve had to work a full-time job in order to get health insurance coverage. Under Obamacare, your pre-existing condition won’t prevent you from getting insured, so you may choose to cut back your hours or retire early. Facing job insecurity and layoffs, older workers have often been forced to taking McJobs just to be able to go to the doctor, when they could be doing much more interesting and productive things with their time, like teaching their grandchildren to read or engaging in civic activities.
Our health insurance system has locked many people into full-time jobs that aren’t necessarily the best use of their human potential. Entrepreneurs have put off trying out new business ideas because they fear losing insurance. Parents of newborns and people taking care of elderly parents can’t take time to care for their family because insurance is tied to full-time employment.
Continue reading at: http://www.alternet.org/economy/america-has-forgotten-we-dont-have-freedom-if-we-dont-have-free-time
