Weekday vs Weekend

The concept of weekdays and weekends isn't universal. While many countries follow a Monday-to-Friday workweek, others observe different days off based on cultural or religious traditions.

The Creation of a Weekend

Even once the seven day week was accepted as the norm (read more at First Day of the Week), days of rest were not a standard weekly feature. In most societies, holy days occurred throughout the year and gave people the day off from work to celebrate and rest. Islam, Judaism and Chrisitianity all had a singular day of worship and rest: traditionally, Muslims had Friday off, Jews observed their rest day on Saturday and the Christians on Sunday.

During the Industrial Revolution, shift work became increasingly common and many workers adhered to a twelve hour day, six day workweek giving them a single day for rest or worship. In the United States, as working conditions deteriorated, unions and workers campaigned for and secured a standardized eight hour workday but a six day work week remained the norm. In 1926, Henry Ford gave workers Saturday off along with Sunday. In 1933, under President Franklin Roosevelt, the Ford week inspired a collection of industry codes in the United States that stated the 40 hour (or 5 day) work week would be the standard. Many other countries have since adopted similar standards but variations in relgious and labor practices account for a variation in workweeks and weekend lengths around the world.