The four-day work week – can it become a reality?

Working hours and their effect on productivity and wellness is by no means a new topic of discussion and debate. Prior to 1900, the average American factory employee was required to work 53 hours a week. This was only reduced to the now standard 40-hour work week after much protest by labour unions, and strangely enough has never been seriously contested since. Until now, that is. This article explore the potential benefits, and some of the challenges, of a shorter work week.

Too good to be true? The importance of collecting better data

Many evaluations rely almost exclusively on perception based data collected through interviews with, or surveys of, implementers (programme providers) and/ or beneficiaries (programme users). While interview data is relatively easy to collect and often provides valuable insights, such data suffers from a number of shortcomings, biases and limitations. We highlight a number of these issues in the context of educational research and suggest potential ways of reducing the risk that such issues result in incorrect research findings and recommendations.

The 2nd annual Number 43 business roundtable

The 2nd Annual Number 43. Business Roundtable was held in Swaziland on 21 June 2015. This Roundtable event forms part of the annual celebrations recognising the contribution made by the Number 43. Trelawney Park household in the fight against Apartheid. Given the recognition of cross-border support to this cause, regional integration forms the core theme of the Roundtable discussion. This year, the Roundtable welcomed the South African Reserve Bank Governor, Mr. Lesetja Kganyago, as the event’s “Chief Instigator”. The resulting discussion was robust and serves to highlight some of the key constraints and opportunities to regional integration in SADC.

The National Credit Act: is the regulation of payday lending sufficient?

The recent spate of newspaper articles detailing the level of indebtedness of South African consumers is a cause for concern. Is it driven by the actual need of citizens, or by the increasing ease with which short term, high cost credit can be accessed, given that limited credit checks are conducted on those who access them?

SMME development in South Africa: through the voices of entrepreneurs

Globally, the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) sector has long been recognised as a key driver of economic growth, and more importantly, as major source of employment. Given the extraordinarily high unemployment rate in South Africa, and the fact that SMMEs are generally more labour intensive, it is not surprising that this sector has been the subject of significant research and support.

Smallholder agriculture: job creator or livelihood provider?

Considerable effort has been directed towards combating high levels of unemployment in South Africa. Agriculture, particularly smallholder farming, has been identified as having significant potential to address South Africa’s employment crisis and food security challenges.

Rising costs in the healthcare sector – who’s to blame?

South African medical costs have increased at an average rate of 8.6% per annum between 2010 and 2012. This has led to all sorts of accusations in the media and from the Government – but who exactly is to blame? Our first response is to point a finger at the insurer. The insurer in turn points to the private health care sector who then points to the costs of their inputs and suppliers. This leaves us guessing as to where these cost/price increases truly originate.

Increased financial openness in SADC – an invitation for trouble?

Recent and dramatic changes in global financial markets have had disastrous effects on some less developed countries in Africa. Although these countries may not have strong and direct financial sector linkages with the rest of the world, their dependency on a limited number of primary sector goods has exposed them to changes in world demand, resulting in a slowing of growth. There is some risk that a prolonged global slowdown might reverse the successes attained in overcoming the food and fuel crises of the 1990s and bring social and economic development to a halt. These challenges raise questions about the rationale (or at least the timing) of global and regional efforts to deepen economic integration.