The everyday facts of life in Britain

NEW MIGRANTS could get ‘welcome packs’ spelling out everyday facts of British life, a new report said.

It could include the British love of queuing and the unacceptability of spitting in the street,

   The idea of ‘cultural briefing packs’ was proposed by the commission as a way to help new arrivals fit in and smooth potential friction points with existing residents.

They would be drawn up by local councils according to customs within their area.

   The commission said the idea should be explored of asking new migrants to go to the local town hall to get their welcome pack. As well as information about the area and workers rights, it could tell them how to behave.

“The packs might say that we like to queue at the Post Office and the bus stop and we don’t really like spitting in the street.” said a commission spokeswoman. “Things like that sound very simple, however, they can drive members of a settled community barmy, when it might be that new arrivals just don’t know about local customs.”

Illegal immigrants will be deported

FIRMS who hire illegal immigrants will have to pay for their deportation under tough new rules. Companies will be fined up to £10.000 for every unlawful worker, to cover the cost of sending them home.

   The penalty is one of a string of measures being considered by the Home Office. Immigration Minister, Liam Byrne said “What we’re proposing will flush illegals out.”

   Around 1,200 officers will police the system, due to start this year at an annual cost of £20 million. But illegal workers already here will NOT be affected.

Britons own over 68 million debit cards

BRITONS own over 68 million debit cards, more than one for every man, woman and child. The figure comes exactly 20 years since the debit card was launched.

   Now 143 purchases are made with debit cards every Second. Women use their cards 25 percent more than men, new research found, however, men spend more per transaction, £52 on average, compared with £39 for women.

   Londoners spend the most on average at £53 a time, whilst the Welsh spend the least, at just £41.

   Barclays launched the first debit card, called Connect, on June 3 1987, but shopkeepers opposed their processing fees. Barclays Head of Debit Cards, Brian Cunnington, said “Plastic has revolutionised how we spend”.

British teenagers are the worst in Europe

BRITISH teenagers are now officially the worst in Europe. A report claims they have more fights, drink more, use more drugs and enjoy under-age sex more than their counterparts in France, Germany or Italy. Well, if British teenagers are the worst, British parents are the worst for letting their children get so bad.

   Now BRITAIN tops the European Union’s league of crime, it was revealed last month. The country is the most burgled, has the highest level of assaults, and above average rates of car theft, robbery and pick pocketing. Only Ireland could match the British ‘record’. A report from the Commons Home Affairs Committee showed there was a more than one-in-five chance of becoming a victim of crime in the UK in 2008. The EU average is fewer than one-in-six. For Spain, it is less than one-in10.    

   Home Office Minister, Tony McNulty, claimed the study took no account of recent crime falls. But the report warned: ‘The UK remains the highest crime country in the EU contest.’

Staying single

SINGLE people spend an average £88 a month on new dates, an online poll has revealed. The annual total is £1.058, with men forking out more, when they take out someone new in the hope of finding love. Men splash out £96.58, while girls pay an average £68.82.

   People in London, where one in four adults is single, splash out most at £108.30. The average in Scotland is £47.82 said finance website Money Expert. Singletons aged 35 to 44 are the most generous, while those over 55 spend the least.

   Now one in three women are unmarried at 35, official figures show. In 2000, only a quarter were not married, and in 1990, just one in ten was in this position.

   Marriage began to experience a decline in the 1980s but in the last decade its popularity has fallen more sharply. The downward trend corresponds with an increase in women following careers, the rising cost of buying a home and the growing acceptance of couples simply living together.

   MARRYING for money is no longer the main way for women to become rich, according to research. Less than one in four female millionaires said that marrying a rich man was the major reason for their wealth. The majority said they earned their own money from starting a business or making investments.

   The findings of the survey, by private banking service Barclays Wealth Management, suggest that women are increasingly adept at making a fortune independently. Economists have predicted that there will be more female millionaires than male by 2020.

   The Centre for Economics and Business Research found last year that women now make 46 percent of the 370,000 millionaires in Britain. It predicted that they will overtake men to reach 53 percent by 2020. The Centre said the fact that women live longer than men, often means they inherit a husband’s wealth, coupled with increasingly generous divorce settlements would play a big role in pushing up the numbers.

   However, the report suggested that the rise of service industries, which have attracted working women in unprecedented numbers, is behind the boom. The survey of 600 wealthy women found that 83.9 percent cited earnings and business ownership among the three main reasons for their affluence.

Quarter of children have one parent

NEARLY a quarter of all children now live in single parent families, according to a report. The figure, 24 percent, is treble that recorded in 1972 and has crept up from 21 percent in 1997 and 22 percent in 2001. And 66 percent of single parent families live in rented housing, compared to 22 percent of couples with children, says the Office for National Statistics Social Trends report.

   Since 1971, ‘traditional’ couples with children have fallen from 52 to 37 percent. And the proportion of couples living together with no children rose from 19 to 25 percent.

   The ONS says “Recent decades have seen marked changes in households.”

Ban TV from children’s bedrooms.

TV SHOULD not be allowed in children’s bedrooms, a psychologist says. And parents must strictly ration the time youngsters spend in front of television.

   Dr. Aric Sigman, an associate fellow of the British Psychological Society, says the Government must give parents guidelines on the amount of TV exposure that is safe for their children.

   Under the age of three, he says, children should not be allowed television at all. Youngsters up to seven should watch only about 30 minutes a day.

   Studies have shown a clear link between ‘excessive’ viewing and difficulty in sleeping, behaviour problems and obesity.”Screen media must now be considered a major problem health issue” Dr. Sigman says, “and reducing viewing must become the new priority for child health.”

   One study found that if children watched more than two hours of television a day between the ages of five and 15, their health suffered years later.

Men have overtaken women at the phone

MEN HAVE overtaken women as the biggest phone chatterboxes, a survey revealed last week. MEN spend an average 32 minutes a day on the blower, up from 22 minutes in 2002. Women are now on 26 minutes, down from 35 five years ago. This is probably because women now prefer to share their gossip via email and text, said the study of 3,500 adults by Nectar, in association with Talk Talk. Work calls were not included in the survey.

Call from the heart

MOBILE phones could be recharged using heartbeats, say scientists. They have found a way to use magnets to turn the vibrations into electricity to power gadgets such as phones and MP3 players.

   It would mean charging a mobile could be as simple as keeping it in a pocket near the heart. Scientists hope the technology could also power pacemakers, so patients would not need surgery to replace batteries.

   Steve Beeby of Southampton University said.”There is a lot of energy available on the body. Heartbeats or even the impact of a heel on the floor could be used.”

 

Alzheimer’s cure closer

CASES of Alzheimer’s will quadruple by 2050 experts said last week. The estimated 26 million dementia sufferer worldwide will grow to more than 106 million. Almost half, 43 percent, will need high level care. In the UK there are 700,000 people with dementia, which will rise to around 1.7 million.

   Scientists have moved a step closer to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s, it was revealed recently. They have developed a compound which prevents the disease killing brain cells and improves memory and learning ability already damaged. The Scottish study at the University of St. Andrews has now won extra funding from the Alzheimer’s Research Trust. A spokeswoman said “It’s exciting news.”

Try to relax

MILLIONS of work-mad Brits spend less than six hours a week with their partners as they toil in the office, a study shows. A quarter devote less than two-and-a-half hours a week to exercise and many get little sleep.

   About 15 million workers find little time for their partners, the report for Imodium revealed. Psychologist, Dr. David Lewis, said their ‘unbalanced’ lives risked their relationships and health.

   Another survey said, BRITS spend more quality time with their favourite soap characters than their family, a poll shows. Almost half know more about the TV creations than about some relatives. On average viewers watch 275 minutes of soaps a week, against just 90 minutes quality time with a partner of family. One third eat most meals in front of the telly says the poll of 3,000 viewers for ITV. com.

  The average British computer user spends 15.8 hours a week online, more than34 days a year. An explosion in the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace now accounts for three hours a week. But an obsessive six percent spend 11 hours per week, more than on real life socialising, according to the survey for uSwitch.com