Category Archives: Economy

24Oct/22

Women turn to sex work to survive UK cost-of-living crisis

  • Surging household costs take heavier toll on women
  • Sex workers see earnings shrink as clients stay away
  • Newcomers at risk from lack of information, support

LONDON – Online sex worker Martha blames Britain’s cost-of-living crisis for her dwindling earnings – partly due to increased competition as soaring household bills push more women to sell sex. Continue reading

17Oct/22

Will South Africa’s street vendors go bust in a cashless world?

Kim Harrisberg

Published: October 12, 2022

  • Digital payments on the rise in South Africa
  • People without mobile phones, bank accounts excluded
  • Calls for innovation to include informal economy

JOHANNESBURG – For more than a decade, musician Thomas Nhassavele has been busking next to the parking payment machine at Johannesburg’s Rosebank Mall, where drivers often dropped their change into his guitar case. Continue reading

11Oct/22

Four ways to reduce your household energy use – proven by research

Aurore Julien, UCL

A particularly cold September has given us a glimpse of the winter to come. The cold will bite hardest for the 13% of England’s households that are already in fuel poverty. As the energy crisis intensifies, this is expected to rise further.

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26Sep/22

Social factors and geopolitical tensions are the major cause of disruption in the mining sector, with ESG the top focus

ESG issues, geopolitics and climate change are the top three risks/opportunities facing mining and metals companies over the next 12 months, according to global mining leaders surveyed for the 15th edition of the EY Top 10 Business Risks and Opportunities for mining and metals in 2023. Continue reading

24Sep/22

Mini budget 2022: experts react to the new UK government’s spending and tax-cut plans

Phil Tomlinson, University of Bath; Andrew Burlinson, University of East Anglia; Catherine Waddams, University of East Anglia; Donald Hirsch, Loughborough University; Jean-Philippe Serbera, Sheffield Hallam University; Jim Watson, UCL; Jonquil Lowe, The Open University, and Steven McCabe, Birmingham City University

UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has just launched the biggest package of tax cuts in half a century. This will involve around £45bn of reductions for people and businesses by 2027 – 50% more than anticipated before the mini-budget announcement.

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24Sep/22

Mini budget: will Kwasi Kwarteng’s plan deliver growth?

Steve Schifferes, City, University of London

The UK economy has been dogged by slow growth for a long time. Combined with even slower growth in productivity, it has meant virtually no increase in living standards for the average family over the past decade.

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23Sep/22

Women sacrifice their health to shield families from spiking costs

  • Rising inflation is widening gender gaps, say charities
  • Women report skipping medical care to feed families
  • Campaigners sound alarm over government austerity measures

By Nita Bhalla

NAIROBI, Sept 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When the pain started in Agnes Wachira’s chest almost six months ago, the Kenyan mother-of-three dismissed it as a symptom of the daily grind of working long hours hand-washing clothes in the narrow lanes of Nairobi’s Kawangware informal settlement.
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01Sep/22

South African tech entrepreneurs tackle digital divide in townships

  • Tech education taken to South Africa’s townships
  • WiFi access and apps could boost informal economy
  • But technology alone is not the answer, experts warn

By Kim Harrisberg

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Moss Marakalala was 11 when he first used a laptop at an after-school programme in Johannesburg, sparking an interest in technology that inspired him to provide young people like himself from South African townships with digital education. Continue reading

23Aug/22

Workplace romance: four questions to ask yourself before dating someone from the office

Chantal Gautier, University of Westminster

In the digital age, online dating and swiping right are the status quo for romance. Practically gone are the days of meeting “the one” in a pub. But what about flirting by the water cooler or over Zoom? The consensual office relationship has been both a romance trope and a taboo for decades.

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