Necessary Working Time, under capitalism, the part of the working day during which the worker reproduces the equivalent of the value of his labour power, i. e., the value of the means of subsistence necessary for maintaining himself and his family. Labour expended during this time is necessary labour, while the output manufactured—necessary product. In the pursuit of surplus value, capitalists try to reduce the necessary working time and increase the surplus working time. This is achieved by raising labour productivity in the branches where the means for the workers’ subsistence (consumer goods) are created, and also in those manufacturing the means of production for the consumer goods industries. The increase in labour productivity in these branches reduces the value of the worker’s means of subsistence, and this, in turn, lowers the value of labour power, reduces the necessary working time, and hence increases the surplus working time. The reduction in the necessary working time and increase in the surplus working time mean intensified exploitation of workers and aggravate the struggle waged by the working class against capitalists. Under socialism, the necessary working time is the time during which the worker in a socialist enterprise creates the part of the social product that ensures both the restoration of his energy and the allround development of his physical and 246 intellectual abilities. Since, under socialism, there is no exploitation of man by man, all the working time, both necessary and surplus, is expended on producing output used for the benefit of the workers themselves. Under socialism, there are no antagonist contradictions between necessary and surplus working time.