It was almost a century ago that workers in this country switched from working a six-day week to a five-day week. The nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday pattern remains the dominant model of work across most of the western world – despite the fact it was designed for an industrial and agricultural economy that would be barely recognisable to today’s workforce. The five-day week just doesn’t reflect the needs of the modern world.
The pandemic has led to increased support among workers for a four-day working week with no loss of pay; this week, I’m introducing a new bill in parliament that could make this a reality, by reducing the maximum weekly hours to be cut from 48 to 32. Because although the UK works long hours, it currently has one of the least productive economies.
