IN CONVERSATION WITH 4 DAY WEEK
4 Day Week, the UK's national campaign for a four-day working week discusses “What once seemed to a lot of people like a utopian ideal is now considered to be a realistic goal.” Read the interview below…
Can you tell me a bit about 4 Day Week and your ethos?
We’re the UK’s national campaign for a four-day working week. We’re independent, non-partisan, and our goal is for the UK to switch to a four-day, 32-hour working week as standard, crucially with no loss of pay for workers.
When the movement started out, what did it want to achieve? And in what way have you evolved?
The aim of the campaign has stayed the same since the beginning, but the way it’s been received has changed massively. What once seemed to a lot of people like a utopian ideal is now considered to be a realistic goal. In fact, for many, it’s already a reality. The 4-day week is very much here, it just needs a wider distribution. We’ve got to this point by proving that it works. The campaign has evolved by moving from a theoretical standpoint to a practical one. We recently ran the world’s largest trial of a 4-day week right here in the UK. Thousands of workers across a variety of industries took part and it was a huge success. 92% of the companies involved have stuck with the 4-day week.
How will having a 4 Day working week impact society? - What positives and negatives can be drawn from it?
Where do we start? Once we’ve switched to a 4-day week as standard we can expect to see widespread improvements in mental and physical health. Communities and local businesses will flourish. Family bonds will be stronger. Public services will get back to healthy recruitment and retention levels. Less commuting means fewer cars on the road, so the environment gets a break too. And that really is just the tip of the iceberg. Now, this isn’t to say that the transition won’t be without its complications, but as we’ve seen at countless companies by this point, once the 4-day week is bedded in the benefits are overwhelming.
What structures do you believe need to be put in place to make a difference? And how easy would these be in implement?
A change to the working time directive would make the biggest difference. Aside from that, structures are not as important as trials. The more trials that take place, and the more sectors they take place within, the quicker the 4-day week will spread.
Do you feel that 4 Day Week has faced any challenges navigating and progressing with its campaigning?
Not as many as we might have done. The key has been running trials, amassing data, and achieving proof of concept. There will always be those who are sceptical of theoretical improvements, especially ones that claim as many benefits as the four-day week. Facts and results, however, are much harder to argue against. And by now, we have plenty of those! - Like all campaigns we could always do with more funding - if you want to see a UK-wide 4-day week as soon as possible, we heartily recommend setting up a monthly donation via our website.
And finally, are there any creatives, charities, or organisations you feel our followers would like to know about?
We’re huge fans of Pregnant Then Screwed, everyone should follow them. We also want to give a shout out to research group Autonomy. When we talk about facts backing up the theory on the four-day week, more often than not we’re talking about research carried out by Autonomy. Their landmark study on the 4-day week in Iceland made a huge impact. They’re also doing incredible things on climate change, economic planning and the future of work – well worth checking out if you want to know more about any of those areas!
Thanks so much for your time, it’s been a real pleasure! Check out work - 4dayweek.co.uk
You can shop our ongoing campaign together here - Campaign
