A four-day workweek could lower your cost of living

That calculation comes from Autonomy, a left-leaning London-based think tank whose research focuses on the future of work. A UK-based working parent with a child younger than two would stand to save an average of £1,440 in childcare and £340 from commuting per year if they were relieved of just one day a week of heading to the office, according to data Autonomy provided The Guardian.

The think tank calculated the average cost of a commute—£1,700—based on their 2019 survey of 2,000 UK workers. Their average annual childcare cost for a one-child family—£7,200—came from 2021 data from the Trades Union Congresswhich represents 5.5 million UK workers.

The findings indicate a four-day workweek could help workers grappling with the record-high cost of living. “A four-day week with no loss of pay could play a crucial role in supporting workers to make ends meet over the next few years,” Autonomy’s research director, Will Stronge, told The Guardian.

It could have implications for the US, where millions of workers are also experiencing inflation. In July, food costs alone skyrocketed 10.9% year-over-year—the most since 1979. It’s partly why two-thirds of Americans are stressed about inflation, per a recent GoBankingRates surveywith more than half worried about untenable monthly expenses and the cost of living.

To add insult to injury, only 31% of Americans received a cost-of-living pay increase to combat inflation. Even some workers who did see salary bumps this year are still earning less because their raise did not keep up with inflation.

The future is four

Autonomy is directly supporting the UK’s inaugural 4-Day Week campaign. Seventy-three companies, which employ about 3,300 workers, are part of the groundbreaking six-month program.

so far people are totally loving it. Nearly 9 in 10 (88%) of leaders at those 73 companies who moved to four-day schedules said the transition was going well.

In the interview last month with CNN Business, Lisa Gilbert, an employee at Kent-based Charity Bank that’s participating in the pilot program, called her new schedule “phenomenal.: She added that free Fridays have made all the difference in both work and life. “I find that I’m saying, ‘Yes, we can’ as opposed to ‘No, sorry, we can’t.'”

Millions of five-day-a-week workers around the globe envy Gilbert’s schedule. The majority of Americans said they’d support a four-day workweek at their company. But as Julia Anas, Qualtrics’ chief people officer wrote for Fortunesimply getting rid of Fridays won’t meet employees’ needs if the workplace doesn’t support better balance and flexibility altogether.

Indeed, not every company in the UK trial transitioned to four-day workweeks seamlessly. Amid early scheduling mishaps and miscommunications at PR firm Unity, managing director Samantha Losey told CNN Business she initially felt she’d “made a huge error. Although her team has steadily adjusted, she’s doubtful productivity will remain sufficiently high to justify a permanent four-day solution after the experiment concludes.

But Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, program director at 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit that advises companies on transitioning to four-day workweeks, told Fortune in May that the benefits outweigh the cons.

“The viability, practicality and benefits of the four-day week are no longer up for dispute,” Pang said. “Many companies have made it work—and have done so profitably.”

Sign up for the Fortune Features email list so you don’t miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews, and investigations.