<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The eight - hour day movement or 40 - hour week movement, also known as the short - time movement, was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses . It was started by James Deb and had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life . The use of child labour was common . The working day could range from 10 to 16 hours, and the work week was typically six days a week . </P> <P> Robert Owen had raised the demand for a ten - hour day in 1810, and instituted it in his socialist enterprise at New Lanark . By 1817 he had formulated the goal of the eight - hour day and coined the slogan: "Eight hours' labour, Eight hours' recreation, Eight hours' rest". Women and children in England were granted the ten - hour day in 1847 . French workers won the 12 - hour day after the February Revolution of 1848 . A shorter working day and improved working conditions were part of the general protests and agitation for Chartist reforms and the early organisation of trade unions . </P>

Why is the standard work day 8 hours