Leisure time !

Tomorrow we move the clocks forward one hour. Daylight saving starts - and we have an extra hour before nightfall to enjoy ourselves.

One American state has opted for a change in business hours in an attempt to reduce energy costs - and increase leisure time.

Utah has adopted the four day week for all workers in government departments. Friday is now a day off and to make up the lost hours employees work from 7 am to 6 pm from Monday to Thursday.

There are obvious pluses and minuses. If every government office is shut down for an entire day there is a 20% reduction in lighting, heating and cooling costs over the five day week.

Those that drive a car to work obviously make a similar saving on fuel costs.

Those working the longer day may find problems in child care scheduling, but the longer working hours of the public service make them more accessible for those working " normal " hours.

It will be interesting to see how this experiment works out. One of the problems will be the use people put to this new " free time ". Not much saving in fuel if instead of driving to work people drive to the beach or the golf course.

There is also a tendency for free time to involve spending money. Entertainment costs money and many people get bored if they have nothing to do.

There is no suggestion of adopting this plan in Australia, but it would be an interesting experiment to question those who have been reduced to a four day week as a means of reducing hours and saving jobs - rather than embracing retrenchments.

It would be a worthy project for some academic to examine whether this changed lifestyle increased or reduced the family spending pattern - and if so - by how much.

It would be handy information for the planners when the challenges of the future need to be addressed !