Why do we, as a society, work five days a week?

Answer 1

That's just the way society was made to be my friend.

Answer 2

As a society, it is because this country was founded by religious people who accept the concept of a Sabbath. This is not to say as some have pointed out that unions did not have a major role in the arbitrary numbers of 5 days, 8 hours, and a 40 hour work week. It is to say that society went with the weekends off to cover both Saturday and Sunday so that the Jews and the Christians could go to Temple or Church as the case may be. No thought about the Muslims, Friday. Think Blue Laws. The 40 hours was down from 60, 12 hours a day. It makes more sense when you consider the financial institutions, cutting down from 12 to 8. You would like everybody to be open at the same time. Besides, it cuts down on accidents. At least that is what businesses were saying. Now a days, Blue Laws are no more, people work all week long, Some work shorter hours to avoid benefits, the companies idea. Professionals try and do the 9 to 5 thing once again for financial reasons. Banks have to report to the FDIC to support loans and alike. Courts work in sink with businesses. It is all arbitrary. But when push comes to shove, the first complaint a worker will give his boss is I have religious problems, i have to go to church.

Answer 3

The reason most people work five days a week is the average person works 8 hour shift and To work 40 hours each weak a person needs to have 5, eight hour days a week. Some poeple work longer hours than that but they usualy have less days a week to work. For example if a person works 10 hour days you would work 4 days a week and if you worked 12 hour days you would work 3 days a week.

Answer 4

whilst the 'bosses' get much maligned (which is after all part of the job), I would love to work 40 hours a week, 5 days and 2 off - reality is that to keep the business going so people can feel disgruntled at working 40 hours, I work long hours and rarely get to fully swich off - it's by choice, if you want to run a business and employ people, that's the price.
Just think about that next time the boss 'strolls in at 9.30' - they may have been up half the night pulling together a contract that will secure your job!

Answer 5

Even god needed a day off. We are not as strong so we need 2, in order to be prepared for the next 5 that we have to work. Here's to having survived into day 2 of this week. 3 to go!

Answer 6

If your asking how we as a society have come to accept this as a standard week, I believe it started with the unions. Before that (and I could be wrong) most people worked six days with Saturday being a shorter day for errands and Sunday being the official church sanctioned day of rest.

Answer 7

You can thank the unions and organized labor movement which came into being during the last third of the 19th century in response to inhumane working practices brought about by the industrial revolution. Without the labor movement, we'd all work 7 days a week with no vacation and no sick leave (that is of course unless we owned the factory/business--in which case we could work our employees to death, literally, with no consequences.)

Answer 8

Because two days are off

Answer 9

One day for rest and one to clean your house.

Answer 10

Because that is just the way it has been forever and ever