Eight-hour day

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The eight-hour day (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time.

The eight-hour work day originated in 16th century Spain,^[1] but the modern movement originated in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life. At that time, the working day could range from 10 to 16 hours, the work week was typically six days, and child labour was common.^[2][3] In 1593, Spain became the first country to introduce the eight-hour work day by law for factory and fortification workers.^[1] In contemporary era, it was established for non-agricultural workers by Uruguay in 1915,^[4] and for all professions by Soviet Russia in 1917.^[5]