Here’s a depressing thought: it will be nearly three months to the next bank holiday. This is because Ireland has few public holidays compared to other European countries.
Calculating public holidays is not always straight-forward. In some countries, when a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the day isn’t made up. Some countries have religious holidays (e.g. Good Friday in Ireland) and regional holidays. Nonetheless, Ireland fares poorly.
People Before Profit has put forward a private members bill that would introduce three new public holidays: February 1st, last Monday in September and last Monday in November. This is a practical proposal to address our lack of public holidays. But the opposition is already kicking in. Back in June Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Damien English said an extra bank holiday could be too costly for employers who are already struggling to stay afloat.
‘Not least we would need to consider the implications and impact of any new public holiday on employment and for the economy at large, in particular the extra costs it would impose on employers already dealing with the COVID-19 crisis and Brexit.’
Would it be ‘too costly’ or even ‘costly’ at all? There is considerable evidence that more public holidays could be economically beneficial.
- Franceso Maria Esposito finds that: ‘national holidays have a small but positive impact on economic activities or at least no effect on it . . . firms adjust their production during the year to satisfy the whole demand. Positive emotions and tourism can be other reasons which can justify the effect.’
- Joachim Merz and Lars Osberg find that: ‘Public holidays therefore have benefits both in the utility of leisure on holidays and (by enabling people to maintain social contacts more easily) in increasing the utility of leisure on normal weekdays and weekends . . . public holidays have beneficial impacts on social life on normal weekdays and weekends. Since these benefits are additional to the other benefits of holidays, it suggests that there is a case to be made for more public holidays.’
- Voxi Heinrich Amavilah finds there are small, positive economic impacts by public holidays but this is heavily caveated and tentative.
Other studies refer to the loss of production in some firms that is made up by increase in business activity in other sectors; namely, hospitality, retail, recreation, arts and leisure. There have been some pessimistic studies. The Centre for Economics and Business Research highlighted the negative impact of additional public holidays back in 2012 (a loss of 0.1 percent of national income per holiday). However, they changed their mind recently, and estimated a positive impact in the UK from an additional holiday in October.
Why would there be little impact on economic output from additional public holidays? Firms adapt and adjust their production over the year. Further, there is the positive impact on employees’ productivity with the additional rest and relaxation – a point that proponents of the four-day working week highlight. In any evert, even if you treat workers as just so many cogs in the production machine – well, even machines need downtime for maintenance.
However, there is another aspect which was highlighted by Brian Hayes when he was a MEP:
‘Additional structured bank holidays can generate economic activity and jobs. The October bank holiday is the perfect example. Following its introduction we saw the growth and development of the Jazz festival in Cork and the Dublin City Marathon.’
This is a crucial observation. Measurements to assess costs are, by their very nature, reduced to static data. You tot up lost production on one side, gains on the othe, and then add them together to find the balance.
What they find difficult to measure is the impact on social capital and civil society – whether that be the productivity benefit of reduced stress, management innovation, or activities that might emerge within and outside the formal market. Activities that improve life quality have a real, if at times unmeasurable, impact on activity, especially as economies are dynamic. White and Wynne find that:
‘One of the areas most overlooked when comparing competing metro areas is a livability factor, or quality of life, that makes certain areas more attractive to individuals and thus businesses. One of the most often cited reasons for the location of a new business, especially a small business, is quality of life, yet it is one of the areas policymakers most often overlook in attracting entrepreneurs and the highly skilled people who most often work for them . . . Quality of life . . . can be the X factor that differentiates two competitive metro areas.’
Public holidays can add to that quality of life – not just in allowing people to have a day of doing what they want, but incentivising activities that add to increased social, cultural and ‘fun’ capital.
These are persuasive arguments for additional public holidays. To ensure that there is no negative impact there could be a phasing-in of the holidays to allow firms to adjust – an additional holiday annually over three years.
But if we’re going down that route, can we at least call the Oireachtas back from recess for a day and introduce a public holiday in time for the end of September this year? If we need an historical rationale we could celebrate Joe Hill’s birthday. Ok, it’s a few days into October but who’s counting the days?
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