Yet another study points to benefits of the 4-day working week

woman sitting at table working with spotlight on her

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Yet another study points to benefits of the 4-day working week

By Ellen Scott

2 years ago

3 min read

A trial of the four-day week in Spain has had overwhelmingly positive results.


Evidence that the four-day working week is a great idea started coming and it hasn’t stopped. We’ve seen successful trials in the UK, research that suggests we might as well not work on Fridays (as we’re less productive), and a study that found there are no notable downsides to this style of flexible working

Now, here’s another bit of proof you can send to your boss: a pilot programme in Spain found that the four-day working week significantly benefitted workers’ health. 

Between April and May 2023, the city of Valencia deliberately scheduled local holidays to fall on four consecutive Mondays, meaning everyone only worked four days that week and got a three-day weekend. Of the 360,000 workers affected, it turned out that many used their long weekends to do things that contributed towards their wellbeing, such as engaging in sport, resting and making healthy meals at home. 

Workers also used their extra day off to engage in hobbies such as reading, playing music, watching films and painting. 

The report, by an independent commission of health and social science experts, noted that workers’ stress levels were lowered, tiredness decreased, and people’s ratings of their own happiness went up. 

Woman at work

Credit: Getty

What’s more, there could be environmental benefits to trimming our working weeks. The pilot programme found there was a drop in the use of cars and vans on the four Mondays (due to no commutes, plus fewer delivery drivers), resulting in better air quality on those days. 

The only downside the report found? People who smoke and drink alcohol did more of both when they had an extra day off each week. It’s worth noting, however, that this trial only lasted a month, so it’s possible that workers might return to their usual drinking and smoking habits if the four-day week model continued. 

Amid all the noted benefits of the four-day working week, there’s still a lot of resistance to the idea. Back in England, on Thursday the government formally warned all councils to ditch their plans for the four-day week, and ordered any councils currently doing four-day weeks to quit it, sharpish. 

This is despite South Cambridgeshire district council reporting that their trial has helped improve recruitment and saved more than £500,000 on hiring agency workers.

Lee Rowley, Britain’s minister for local government, said this week: “This guidance makes clear that the government does not support a four-day working week and does not expect councils to adopt this arrangement. This guidance will support councils in discharging their duties and to ensure that they maintain their work to continuously improve and demonstrate best value.

“The government is being extremely clear that it does not support the adoption of the four-day working week within the local government sector. Local authorities that are considering adopting it should not do so. Those who have adopted it already should end this practice immediately. Those councils who continue to disregard this guidance are now on notice that the government will take necessary steps in the coming months ahead to ensure that this practice is ended within local government.

“Asking the taxpayer to shoulder the full-time expense for part time hours by deleting 20% of the working week is not compatible with a council’s requirement to demonstrate value for money.”


Images: Getty

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