Liberation, August 23, 2021 , by Margot Davier
Iceland has already successfully experimented with a four-day week, allowing the majority of its population to benefit from it, while other countries such as Japan and Spain are considering it.
The idea has attracted interest from several countries, but Iceland has gone the furthest. Between 2015 and 2019, the four-day week was tested by 2,500 employees, or more than 1% of the population. The experiment was conducted in the public sector (daycare centers, hospitals, offices, etc.), introducing a 35- or 36-hour week instead of 40. Led by two think tanks, Icelandic and British, it silenced many preconceived notions, according to their report published on July 4: not only did the reduction in working hours not result in a reduction in pay, but it also did not cause an overload of work.