Author(s): PEDRO GOMES

Business

A groundbreaking book on how and why the status quo of the 5-day week must change. Friday is the New Saturday makes a compelling, provocative and timely case for societal change. Drawing on an eclectic range of economic theory, history and data, Dr Pedro Gomes argues that a four-day working week will bring about a powerful economic renewal for the benefit of all society. It will stimulate demand, productivity, innovation and wages, whilst reducing unemployment and crushing populist movements. The arguments come from both the left and right of the political spectrum to show that a polarised society can still find common ground. In the 1800s, people in the West worked six days each week, resting on Sundays. In the 1900s, firms began to give workers Saturdays off as well, realising that a two-day weekend helped the economy. In the 2000s, Friday will become the new Saturday, and we will never look back. AUTHOR: Pedro Gomes is Reader in Economics at Birkbeck, University of London. He studied for his BSC in Economics in his home town of Lisbon and received his PhD from LSE in 2010. A leading researcher on public sector employment his work has influenced policy makers globally. He lives in London.