And We Thought a 9 to 5 Was Bad...

The weekend as a distinct break between work and rest emerged over the last century. In post-Industrial Revolution Britain, Sundays off were granted for religious reasons, and many workers informally took Monday off to recover, shaping the workweek. Campaigns by trade unions, religious groups, and temperance organizations sought a more formal weekly rest to promote industriousness, improve church attendance, and support working-class respectability through elevated leisure. Britain adopted a full 48-hour weekend in the 1930s, while similar ideas gained traction in the United States. Henry Ford shut factories on weekends in 1926 to increase consumer spending. The weekend functions as a network good because its benefit grows when others also have the day off. Researchers note that the key feature is shared time off, not merely individual rest. The weekend faces pressure as people feel busier and as work and leisure boundaries become less clear.

"The practice of downing tools and logging off on Saturday and Sunday has only existed for little more than a century. In post-Industrial Revolution Britain, workers were given Sundays off for religious reasons, with the unofficial but widely adopted practice of Saint Monday - taking the Monday off to recover from the previous day's excesses - shaping the pattern of the working week."

"Campaigns from various organisations, including trade unions, religious bodies, and temperance groups, pushed for a more formalised break in the week to encourage industriousness, allow for better attendance at church, and to "advance working class respectability" with elevated leisure pursuits, leading to the introduction of a half day on Saturdays."

"Britain adopted the full 48-hour weekend in the 1930s, around the same time the concept gained traction in the US. Henry Ford started shutting his factories on Saturdays and Sundays in 1926 - not out of generosity, but to encourage consumer spending, particularly on his cars, by giving people the time to actually use them."

""the essential characteristic of the weekend is not just the having of a day off but rather that other people have the day off." For author Alex Mayyasi, weekends as we've come to know them are under threat, because people feel busier than ever. "That's partly because the market has delivered us so many products and activities to spend our leisure time consuming," he writes."

Read at London On The Inside