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02 December 2008
Britain has become a 'lonelier' place over the past 30 years, where even your neighbour's a stranger
Britain is an increasingly lonely country where even our neighbours are strangers, research suggests. The breakdown of family ties and more people moving around the country for jobs have contributed to a society without roots or ties. Researchers say that the fragmentation of the UK started in the late 1960s, but has accelerated over the past decade. They believe that even the least cohesive communities of the early 1970s had stronger ties than any community now. Divorce, immigration and large transitory student populations have also played a role in weakening neighbourhood bonds, the report found. The report, prepared for the BBC by researchers at Sheffield University, picked out districts where the fewest people have roots and most share 'a feeling of not belonging'.
BBC ; Sheffield University

01 December 2008
Infant mortality 'highest in UK'
The Changing UK report found the infant mortality rate for the BBC WM area was 7.5 per 1,000 births in 2005 - the highest of the BBC's 45 radio areas. The report, commissioned by BBC Nations and Regions, looked at the Census and other statistics to see how communities had changed over the past 40 years. Researchers found Britain had become more polarised and socially fragmented. Britain was more polarised with people living among their "own kind" in terms of age, economic status and other factors, the researchers at Sheffield University found.
BBC Nations and Regions ; Sheffield University

30 November 2008
Longevity risk overstated by £30bn, says PWC
Life expectancy for scheme members is less than predicted by the insurance company-based tables used by many schemes for accounting and funding assumptions. This is indicated by new mortality tables for self administered pension schemes issued by the actuarial profession. Failure to allow for this difference would lead to an overstatement of total UK defined benefit pension liabilities by some £30bn, warns PricewaterhouseCoopers.

27 November 2008
Cost of pension increases for stay-at-home mums
Women wishing to top up their basic state pension should do so now before a 50 per cent hike in buying back National Insurance (NI) contributions comes into force in April, experts have warned. To qualify for a full basic state pension, currently £90.70 per week, women need 39 years of National Insurance contributions – although this is changing to 30 years from 2010. The cost of "buying back" National Insurance contribution years is increasing by £200.

27 November 2008
Major occupational death rate inequalities revealed
The death rate of men in routine occupations in the North East of England is nearly four times that of those in higher managerial and professional occupations in the South East, according to new research published. The study published by the Office for National Statistics showed that in 2001-03 men in routine occupations - such as cleaners and labourers - in the North East had the highest death rate among men in all socio-economic groups and regions in England and Wales, at 699 per 100,000 men aged 25-64.
Office for National Statistics (ONS)

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