Financial debt amongst older women in the United Kingdom – shame, abuse and resilience

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kingsley Purdam ◽  
Jennifer Prattley
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Real Term ◽  
Financial Problems ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Wage Rates ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Pension Age

Abstract Long-term poverty, precarious employment, low pay, the increased pension age and real-term reductions in welfare benefits, including bereavement allowances, have brought into focus the financial vulnerability of many older women aged 55 years and older in the United Kingdom. In this article, survey data were analysed alongside evidence from observations of debt support meetings and interviews with older women who were receiving debt advice from a support charity. The findings suggest that older women were more likely to have financial problems than older men, particularly those women who were living on low incomes and who were separated or divorced. Following the breakdown of a relationship, many older women were at increased risk of more debt and bankruptcy, particularly those aged between 55 and 64 years and those in routine and semi-routine occupations. Many women had kept their financial problems hidden due to fear and shame whilst bringing up their children and some had been subject to coercive control and economic abuse by their former husbands or partners. It is important that any pension reforms, changes to minimum wage rates, and new divorce and domestic abuse legislation and welfare policies take account of the circumstances of separated, divorced and widowed older women. More financial support and advice needs to be provided to older women facing financial difficulties.

Is there a link between low parental income and childhood obesity?

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nichola Shackleton
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Weight Status ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Child Obesity ◽  
Income Poverty ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Child Weight ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Childhood Weight ◽  
Increased Risk

The association between familial socioeconomic status and child obesity has created the expectation that low familial income increases the risk of child obesity. Yet, there is very little evidence in the United Kingdom to suggest that this is the case. This article focuses on whether low familial income and family poverty are associated with an increased risk of child obesity. Data from the Millennium Cohort Study (age 7) are analysed. Sequential logistic regression analyses are used to determine whether income has a direct link to childhood weight. The results show no direct relationship between familial income/poverty and weight in childhood. Numerous robustness checks provide considerable evidence that low familial income has no association with children’s weight status in the United Kingdom. The results demonstrate that social inequalities in child weight are not driven by differences in income.

scholarly journals Young Parents’ Experiences of Pregnancy and Parenting During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Moltrecht ◽  
Louise J. Dalton ◽  
Jeffrey R. Hanna ◽  
Clare Law ◽  
Elizabeth Rapa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Perinatal Care ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Young Parents ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Parents Experiences

Abstract Young parents (aged 16-24 years) in the perinatal period are at an increased risk of poor mental health especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to multiple risk factors including social and economic instability. COVID-19 related restrictions had profound implications for the delivery of perinatal care services and other support structures for young parents. Investigating young parents’ experiences during the pandemic, including their perceived challenges and needs, is important to inform good practice and provide appropriate support for young parents. Qualitative interviews were conducted with young parents (n=21) during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom from February – May 2021. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Three key themes were identified to describe parents’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents reported specific COVID-19 related anxieties and stressors, including worries around contracting the virus and increased feelings of distress due to uncertainty created by the implications of the pandemic. Parents described feeling alone both at home and during antenatal appointments and highlighted the absence of social support as a major area of concern. Also, parents felt their perinatal care had been disrupted by the pandemic and experienced difficulties accessing care online or over the phone. This study highlights the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young parents, including their mental wellbeing and the perinatal support they were able to access. Insights from this study can inform the support and services offered to families going forward. Specifically, the findings emphasise the importance of (a) supporting both parents during perinatal appointments, (b) providing parents with mental health support early on and (c) finding ways to facilitate communication pathways between professionals and parents.

A Problem Shared? The Role of the Public in the Legitimation of Policy: A Case Study of Gendered Welfare Change in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Richards-Gray
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Disadvantaged Women ◽  
Welfare Change

Abstract This article argues that shared problematizations—shared political and public ways of thinking—legitimize policies and their outcomes. To support this argument, it examines the legitimation of gendered welfare reform in the recent U.K. context. Drawing on focus groups with the public, it provides evidence that the public’s problematization of welfare, specifically that reform was necessary to “make work pay” and “restore fairness”, aligned with that of politicians. It argues that the assumptions and silences underpinning this shared problematization, especially silences relating to the value and necessity of care, have allowed for welfare policies that have disadvantaged women.

Change at Work

2019 ◽  
pp. 105-128
Author(s):  
Tim Strangleman
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Workplace Culture ◽  
Shop Floor ◽  
Oral Histories ◽  
Financial Problems ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Autobiographical Accounts

In the early 1980s, Guinness found itself facing serious financial problems as a result of the recession, falling profits, and mistaken diversification decisions. This chapter tells how the company confronted these challenges by appointing a new managing director, Ernest Saunders, who transformed Guinness into a multinational beverage conglomerate and changed the culture of the organization forever. In the process, he also committed serious financial misdemeanors. This chapter tells the shop floor workers experienced these changes, in particular how the reorganizations and layoffs affected workplace culture and identity. Drawing on a series of oral histories and autobiographical accounts, the author places what happened at Guinness in the 1980s and 1990s within the wider context of the brewing and spirits sectors in the United Kingdom and globally.

Wage-Rates, Earnings, and Wage-Drift

1968 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 52-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Gillion
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Wage Rates ◽  
The United Kingdom

This article describes an attempt to establish by regression analysis the form of the relationships which determine wage-rates and average earnings in the United Kingdom.

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