Four-day work week benefits workers and employers, new study shows
For many people, the 40-hour work week can be an exhausting grind. But new research bolsters the argument that the solution isn’t necessarily to focus on improving your mindset, getting a better night’s sleep, or simply sucking it up. It’s switching to a four-day work week. The evidence is presented in a study published on July 21 in the journal Nature Human Behavior. The five-day, 40-hour work week was a hard-fought win for labor activists in the US. The legal protection only arrived after generations of grassroots organizing, union solidarity, and physical sacrifice—and even today the right isn’t guaranteed to people working multiple, part-time, or gig jobs. Still, that hasn’t stopped many labor advocates from pushing for even greater workplace gains. In recent years, a growing number of organizations and experts have started campaigning for a four-day work week. According to nonprofits like 4 Day Week Global (4DWG), a three-day weekend provides...