Archive for the ‘Social policy’ Category
The truth about obesity: 10 shocking things you need to know
June 24th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Nearly two-thirds of the UK population is either overweight or obese. Obesity is shortening our lives. Obesity could bankrupt the National Health Service. It’s an unfair fight between anti-obesity & food industry marketing. Obesity took off in the have-it-all 1980s. Snacking is a newly created behaviour. The food industry is behaving as the tobacco industry […]
Posted in British current affairs, Social policy | Comments (0)
Out of 11 of the major industrialised countries, which has the best health system and which has the worst?
June 18th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
The countries are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States. The best health system is that of the UK which is publicly funded but spends the second lowest amount of money on health care – £2,008 or $3,405 per head. The worst health system is that of […]
Posted in Social policy, World current affairs | Comments (0)
“The Spirit Level” : five years on
April 18th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Five years ago, Professors Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson wrote a seminal work called “The Spirit Level” which I reviewed here. What do the authors say now about the inequality they described then? “When we published our book ‘The Spirit Level’, the Government of the day was still famously relaxed about people becoming ‘filthy rich’. […]
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How a decent level of welfare can actually promote economic growth
March 28th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
“There is no general correlation between the size of the welfare state and the growth performance of an economy. To cite a rather striking example, despite having a welfare state that is 50% bigger than that of the US (29.4% of GDP as against 19.2% of GDP in the US, in 2009), Finland has grown […]
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It’s 5 years since “The Spirit Level” was published
March 9th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
One of the most influential – of me and others – books that I have ever read is “The Spirit Level” by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (2009). I have reviewed this important work here. In today’s “Observer” newspaper, the book’s authors have written an article to mark the fifth anniversary of publication of the work and […]
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Anglican bishops lambast Britain’s welfare reforms
February 20th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
“Britain is the world’s seventh largest economy and yet people are going hungry. Half a million people have visited foodbanks in the UK since last Easter and 5,500 people were admitted to hospital in the UK for malnutrition last year. One in five mothers report regularly skipping meals to better feed their children, and even […]
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Social mobility and child poverty in unequal Britain
December 16th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission’s first annual report, State of the Nation 2013, sets out detailed evidence and analysis on child poverty and social mobility. Despite the commitment and efforts of Government and others, the scale and depth of progress are unequal to the social, economic and fiscal challenges. The Commission calls for a […]
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How many people should go to prison?
November 12th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
At one level, the answer might seem obvious: it depends how many people commit a crime attracting a prison sentence. But, in fact, the rate of incarceration varies enormously around the world. This means that, unless human nature is very different in different countries, the key factors are the cultural propensity to commit crime and […]
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Is this the least violent period in the history of humankind?
September 8th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Most people are convinced that we live in violent times – perhaps the most violent times. But it ain’t necessarily so. I was visiting friends yesterday and, on the kitchen table, was the book “The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined” by Canadian psychologist Stephen Pinker. Now I am never going to read […]
Posted in History, Social policy | Comments (0)
“The Spirit Level” – the two-minute trailer
June 30th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
“The Spirit Level” film is an official documentary based on Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett’s seminal book. It shows how the rising gap between rich and poor has impacted on our societies, and aims to engage people on the issue of inequality, helping them to discover how it affects them and what can be done […]
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