Infographic: Bring Back The 40 Hour Workweek

Bring back the 40-hour workweek.

The eight-hour day movement or 40-hour week movement, also known as the short-time movement, has its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain.

In England, as in other European nations, the rapid development of industrial production in large factories transformed working life. Factory work consisted of long hours and poor working conditions.

With working conditions unregulated, the health, welfare, and morale of working people deteriorated.

Child labor was common. The working day could range from 10 hours to 16 hours for six days a week.

An English mill owner and entrepreneur named Robert Owen became the champion of the 40-hour workweek, co-operatives and worker’s rights. Owen began campaign for a 10-hour day in 1810 and instituted it in his socialist businesses.

Creating The Modern Workweek

By 1817 he had formulated the goal of the eight-hour day and coined the slogan Eight hours labor, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest.

Women and children in England were granted the ten-hour day in 1847. French workers won the 12-hour day after the February revolution of 1848.

A shorter working day and improved working conditions were part of the Chartist labor movement reforms in England and the early organization of trade unions.

The International Workingmen’s Association took up the demand for an eight-hour day at its August 1866 convention in Geneva, Switzerland.

Today, most employed Americans are putting in more than 40 hours per week and 55% report being dissatisfied with their jobs. One third of professionals put in workweeks of more than 50 hours.

Worker co-operatives may be one way that that working people can take control over their jobs and ensure better working conditions — like an 8-hour day and a 40-hour workweek.

Here’s a handy infographic that tells the tale of your extended work week:

Source: OnlineMBA.com