Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

And there appears to be another side to this in the UK and not necessarily for those at the bottom..

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...l-2367800.html

RobertKettsghost tries to put a finger on it.

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Off-topic but still related, particularly as it relates to quality of life for some:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/20...report-manners

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Exactly. Here in the US unemployment is higher than in the UK, but there were still over 40 million jobs filled last year according to Dept of Labor stats.

Unfortunately, in economic hard times the people who are hurt the most are the ones who have least resources - both personal and financial. I don't know the stats for the UK, but here college grads only have a 5% unemployment rate, but among non-graduates, the numbers are so high that they push up the national average to over 9%.

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Levels of unemployment in the UK will this week surge to their highest for 17 years - as experts warn the figure will increase even further in the following 12 months.

Economists believe Wednesday's figures from the Office for National Statistics will show the number of people out of work to have risen well beyond 2,518,000 - the peak seen earlier this year.
And the total is almost certainly expected to top the 2,521,000 recorded at the end of 1994 when Britain was in the wake of its recession.:frown:

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

And your source for this information is?

And I remember the unemployment rate in the UK being at just over 3 million, there was a lot of fuss about it. Then a recovery. And that was when the population was at a lower level too, so the percentage would have been higher at that point.

The area where we live in Canada has a higher unemployment rate than the UK, as does the US, and a few other countries too. There are still jobs to be had though - a friend of ours has been offered 3 different ones within the last month, all entry level but with prospects, not bad starting pay/benefits, higher than minimum wage. There are still a lot of positions that could be easily filled, but people don't want those jobs.

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Googling the opening line reveals it to be none other than.....ah, never mind. Everyone knows it anyway. :rofl:

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Trouble with this study is that it's done by people with an angle, plus as far as I can see, there's no control from "better times."

I was particularly struck by this. "More than a quarter of employers have noticed an increase in the number of people coming to work ill in the past year, and nearly two-fifths report an increase in mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, among employees."

IOW, "Three-quarters of employers have not seen an increase in people coming to work ill, and well over half have noticed no increase in mental health problems."

Add to that that an "increase" could be a couple of cases, which is completely within the range of random.

"Family life is suffering, too: one in three workers said they do not get to eat with their families more than twice a week. And 86 per cent of working parents claim to have lost out on time with their children, with almost a third "frequently" or "constantly" sacrificing family time. Unsurprisingly, 27 per cent of employees feel less productive. And 33 per cent are less engaged at work, while 34 per cent find themselves regularly distracted at work due to stress at home. "

IOW, Most workers get to eat with their families three times a week or more, and only a third feel they've often sacnificed family time. Most workers feel as productive or more than previously, more engaged at work, and that stress at home is not a problem for them.

As for the "And 86 per cent of working parents claim to have lost out on time with their children" of course most do. If we work full time outside of the home we'll have less time with our children. But then, we could say that most parents of children who attend school have lost out on time with their chiliren, but we don't look at it that way.

Bev

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Was just chatting to a friend in England.

She had been worried that her son who graduated last year wouldn't be able to get a job, however he's been working at an HR firm for a year now, seems to go on endless junkets and has just got a big pay rise.

Another friend emailed to say they are a bit lonely now that their daughter has gone to uni, so are going to India for a while in October and then have a few more holidays lined up to ease the pain (they both work).

Of course these are just isolated examples, but I have to say that everyone I know over there is doing fine.

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

What do the stats matter... you only want one job. :rofl:

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

BBC: Falling incomes will mean the biggest drop for middle-income families since the 1970s - and will push 600,000 more children into poverty, says a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The IFS forecasts two years "dominated by a large decline" in incomes. The IFS warns that in the next two years there will be deepening levels of adult and child poverty.

:frown:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15242103

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/20...fiscal-studies

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Mate, seriously it is just getting pathetic now and you are making yourself look extremely silly. We can all type 'bad UK news' into Google. :D

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

Our friends kids are either all working or in higher education, as you say isolated examples but there seems to be lots of them ;)

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

I didn't google the news below. I came across it while reading both websites. One cannot ignore real news, especially when it comes from respectable news websites.

BBC: Falling incomes will mean the biggest drop for middle-income families since the 1970s - and will push 600,000 more children into poverty, says a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The IFS forecasts two years "dominated by a large decline" in incomes. The IFS warns that in the next two years there will be deepening levels of adult and child poverty.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15242103

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/20...fiscal-studies

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/wo...22poverty.html

Re: Article about unhappy Britain
 

The reality is that almost all western economies are facing the same kind of issues as those raised here. I'd say it's pretty much a crap shoot as to who will deal with them the best, although I'm relatively pessimistic as to the US's chances given its dysfunctional political system.