A shorter working week
Analysis22 Heinä 2019

A shorter working week

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the working week gradually got shorter and shorter. As technological advances powered economic growth, workers reaped the gains not just in the form of higher pay, but more leisure time. The economist John Maynard Keynes predicted we'd eventually all be working a 15-hour week. Even in the 1970s the expectation that 8 hour days would be reduced to 6 was widely held across the political spectrum. But this all ground to a halt in the 1980s. In this edition of Analysis Sonia Sodha explores the great leisure mystery: whatever happened to this dream of working less? And why is the idea of a 4-day working week gaining traction on the political left in Britain? What would a society that ditches the long-hours culture, and re-embraces the leisure dream look like, and is it really possible to achieve this without increasing inequality between the haves and have-nots of the labour market?

Jaksot(389)

Has economic crisis put net-zero plans on the backburner?

Has economic crisis put net-zero plans on the backburner?

The UK has pledged to reach net-zero by 2050. But has a pandemic, the fallout from the war in Ukraine and now an economic crisis derailed our plans to decarbonise? Or have they provided an inflexion p...

13 Helmi 202328min

Blaenau Ffestiniog and the Foundational Economy

Blaenau Ffestiniog and the Foundational Economy

In the search for stability and growth, policy and debate often focuses on looking for multi-million pound inward investment, or industries with big ideas such as technology and manufacturing. But the...

6 Helmi 202328min

Can we ever really tackle rising public spending?

Can we ever really tackle rising public spending?

Last week, the government unveiled around £30bn worth of cuts to public services as it attempts to plug a fiscal hole. Governments have attempted to rein in spending in the past and struggled to do so...

21 Marras 202228min

Why do we assume women care?

Why do we assume women care?

In spite of progress on men's involvement in childcare the statistics show that women are still doing far more caring of young children. That is extended throughout life to the caring of ill and elder...

14 Marras 202228min

Economic Growth - can we ever have enough?

Economic Growth - can we ever have enough?

As the twin storms of economic turmoil and worsening climate change grip the UK and many other countries around the world, Analysis examines the future of economic growth. Does it offer a route out of...

7 Marras 202228min

Is 'Political Blackness' gone for good?

Is 'Political Blackness' gone for good?

Over the decades, a string of umbrella terms and acronyms have been used in the UK to describe people who aren’t white. “Politically Black”, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME), ethnic minorities...

31 Loka 202227min

Can Effective Altruism really change the world?

Can Effective Altruism really change the world?

If you want to do good in the world, should you be a doctor, or an aid worker? Or should you make a billion or two any way you can, and give it to good causes? Billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried argues thi...

24 Loka 202228min

How Xi Jinping did it

How Xi Jinping did it

Just over a decade ago, President Xi Jinping was a virtual unknown. Few would say that now. In ten years, he’s reworked the Chinese Communist party, the military and the government so that he’s firmly...

17 Loka 202229min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

uutiscast
aikalisa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
politiikan-puskaradio
tervo-halme
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
rss-podme-livebox
rss-asiastudio
otetaan-yhdet
viisupodi
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rikosmyytit
the-ulkopolitist
rss-tasta-on-kyse-ivan-puopolo-verkkouutiset
aihe
radio-antro
rss-hyvaa-huomenta-bryssel
rss-merja-mahkan-rahat
rss-girls-finish-f1rst