Four-day working week backed by clear majority of Tory voters, ballot exhibits

Tory voters overwhelmingly support a four-day working week as momentum builds behind the idea, a new poll shows today.

The survey by Survation shows 67% of Conservative voters would opt for a shorter working week of 32 hours with no loss of pay if their employer provided the option. The figure is the same among the population as a whole and slightly higher among Labour supporters – on 69% – after pilots in the UK and around the world.

Research last year found over a dozen companies that took part in pilots of a four-day week had carried on with reduced hours at their firms. Of 61 companies that took part in a trial of the scheme, 56 of them said they would carry on with the four-day week while 18 said they would make it permanent. The 2023 study involving 2,900 workers also reported reduced stress among workers with 71% reporting lower levels of burnout.

Director of the 4 Day Week campaign Joe Ryle said: “As we head towards a general election, this poll shows that a four-day week is hugely popular with both Tory and Labour voters. The 9-5, 5 day working week was invented 100 years ago and we are long overdue an update. A four-day week with no loss of pay improves productivity and is a win-win for workers and employers.”

Carl Shoben, the director of strategic communications at pollsters Survation, also said public support for a four-day working week has grown since the Covid crisis. He added: “It looks like major pilots that have taken place have helped to move the four-day week away from being a pipe-dream to a realistic prospect for the future.”

The Labour MP Peter Dowd added: “The introduction of artificial intelligence makes a shorter working week essential to ensure that workers also reap the benefits. After Covid, British workers are fed up with working long hours and on low pay. A four-day week with no loss of pay has been shown to boost productivity and the wellbeing of workers and my party should embrace it.”