Live while you are alive
The British government is introducing a new system of paying benefits to the out of work. It is called Universal Credit. All claims for the new benefit, and all subsequent contact between recipients and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will take place online (!). Users will have individual accounts that will be “easy” …
Continue reading ‘Making state benefits that little bit more stressful to receive’ »
Over the past decade, the US’s suicide rate has surged, particularly among the middle aged: it’s up almost 30% for those between 35-64. Why? Many have pointed to the economic downturn, but others have also sought to pin the rise on cultural factors, citing the “retreat from community” and the decline of institutions such as …
Continue reading ‘A rise in the rate of suicides in the US’ »
There are 50% more first names now than there were 25 years ago. Why? Because the gulf between rich and poor is “nowhere clearer than on the nation’s birth certificates”. Names used to be relatively classless; the sons of a labourer and a lord might both be called Anthony. Now, middle-class parents stick to old-fashioned …
Drinking as little as one fizzy drink a day appears to significantly increase the risk of diabetes in later life. Researchers found that those who drank one sugary soft drink a day had a 22% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who drank one can a month. Partly, this was down to …
Continue reading ‘Industrialized food and drink are bad for our health’ »
Apparently, 49% of British workers would be prepared to accept a pay cut if only they could work for a better manager. Is good management learned in school or college? (probably not). Is it learned in business school? (almost definitely not!). Or is it simply the ability, or inability, of so many people to put …
Continue reading ‘Why are so many people such bad man managers?’ »
