Lord Hylton writes for ePolitix.com ahead of his oral question today (Tuesday) on the proposal to make Sundays as work-free as possible
Since the end of the Second World War, the majority of workers have become accustomed to a five-day week, supplemented by bank holidays and annual paid leave, usually related to the length of employment.
With the abolition of the laws restricting Sunday trading, which had many anomalies, Sunday has become very much a normal shopping day. The total retail expenditure, which used to be confined to six or five-and-a-half days per week, now spreads over seven. This may be a convenience for consumers, but it cannot be seen as a benefit for the workers who have to be on duty to meet the demand. At the same time, global competition and the worldwide debt crisis have led to widespread calls for flexible working. This in turn has produced large numbers of jobs that are part-time or with limited hours.
Couples with children or dependent adults have to juggle their family responsibilities with the need to earn enough to cover high housing and energy prices, together with other essential payments.
This is the background to proposals for a recognised weekly day of rest which would be accepted as different from other working days. It would, I suggest, provide a greater degree of predictability than now exists. Obviously it cannot cover everybody; health, emergency, transport, and communication services etc would have to be maintained as at present. It would, however, be a boon to family life by enabling more couples to spend quality time with their children and spouses. It would benefit amateur sports, and the countless social activities that rely on volunteers to keep going. It might even help the environment by reducing some commercial journeys or polluting activities.
In this context, the experience of Muslim-majority countries, and of Israel, may be worth examining at a time when the Christian Sunday is somewhat in decline. We may discover that there are secular benefits to be had from religious customs.
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