A significant majority of Labour voters support a move to a four-day working week, a new poll has found.
Two-thirds of those who backed Sir Keir Starmer in the last general election said they would endorse a government plan to reduce the working week to four days by 2030, without any loss of pay.
The idea has support across the political spectrum, according to a poll of 2,048 people conducted by the market research agency Survation and commissioned by the Autonomy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. More than half — 59 per cent — of Reform UK supporters were in favour.
The survey also found that 66 per cent of Labour voters want more trials of the four-day working week across the public sector, with only 9 per cent opposed.
The UK works longer full-time hours than most European nations, and Will Stronge, director of research at Autonomy, argued that Labour should address this. He said Labour’s employment reforms were “a good start, but what is missing is a serious plan for reducing working time. If the priority is health, decent working conditions, and business innovation, this must be part of the programme.”
The government’s “new deal” for workers, which Labour announced in May, promised a living wage, the banning of zero-hour contracts, more collaboration with trade unions, an end to “fire and rehire” practices, and the option to request flexible working from day one.
Peter Dowd, Labour MP for Bootle, supports the deal but also said it should include policies for a shorter working week. He added: “After decades of working some of the longest hours in Europe, British workers are burnt out, overworked, and in desperate need of a break.
“A four-day week with no loss of pay would give workers a much better work-life balance, and the evidence shows it would also improve productivity.”
Businesses that took part in a trial of a four-day working week in 2022 cited improvements in business performance, productivity, and worker wellbeing. The Autonomy Institute reported that at least 54 of the 61 companies that participated in the trial have maintained the four-day week 18 months later.
A second major UK pilot is set to begin this autumn, organised by the 4 Day Week Campaign and Timewise, the flexible working consultancy, with training set to start in September.
South Cambridgeshire district council, the first local authority in the UK to experiment with a shorter week, found that employees were more committed to the organisation, which reduced turnover costs.