Henry Ford invented the weekend 100 years ago

The concept of the weekend as a two-day break is only a century old. In 1926, Henry Ford, the American industrialist, announced that workers at his factories would work five eight-hour days instead of six, with no reduction in pay. This change was partly a response to the assembly line, which he had introduced earlier and which had increased productivity but exhausted workers, leading to absenteeism rates of up to 10%. Ford's decision was commercially successful, reducing absenteeism and boosting morale, and it was later adopted as official policy by Boots in 1934. The weekend quickly became a cultural institution, with Sunday as a day of worship and Saturday for leisure. Over time, the rituals of the weekend have evolved: Saturday afternoon football matches have been stretched across television schedules, and brunch has become a popular weekend activity. The four-day week, first predicted by Richard Nixon in 1956, has become a reality in the Netherlands, where people work an average of 32.1 hours per week. In the UK, remote working has given rise to 'Skiveday Friday', where employees keep their calendars open but work only half-heartedly. There are now 260 UK companies officially signed up to a four-day week. The weekend remains a vital coordination device for communities to connect, even as its traditional forms change.