Poverty rate

June 28, 2022 11:18 Korea has the highest employment rate for people over 65. That may either be a positive sign attesting to the physical and mental ability of elderly people to work or reflect the sad reality that they have to find menial or part-time jobs to make ends meet. Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun on Monday quoted a study of G7 nations and eight other countries which showed that Japan had a very high employment rate for the elderly last year at 25.1 percent, but Korea ranked even higher with 34.1 percent. Other developed economies ranked way lower with the U.S. at 18 percent, Canada at 12.8 percent, the U.K. at 10.5 percent, Germany at 7.4 percent and Italy at five percent. A high employment rate among senior citizens is sometimes seen as a positive sign that a country is prepared to meet the challenges of an aging population such as a dwindling economically active population. But Korea also lacks the legislative framework to protect senior citizens from … [Read more...] about Korea Has World’s Highest Employment Rate for Elderly People

The rollout of Universal Credit has been linked to a rise in crime by an academic study. Researchers at University College London said they found “salient and plausible evidence linking UC to an increase in recorded crime". They said the rise was both short- and long-term as the benefit was introduced to an area, and included both violent crime and property crime. That suggests “the effects of strain extend beyond the purely financial,” the study said. Academics compared monthly government data to figures from Community Safety Partnerships in England and Wales from January 2013 to June 2018. That meant the study covered the early rollout of the benefit, which was plagued by complaints people were driven to food banks due to its low rates. Researchers at University College London said they found “salient and plausible evidence linking UC to an increase in recorded crime" ( Image: In Pictures via Getty Images) Tory ministers - who cut billions out of UC’s design … [Read more...] about DWP Universal Credit rollout linked to a rise in crime rates by academic study

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 7 UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The devastating earthquake this week in Afghanistan is one more emergency facing the country, which is also confronting its worst drought in 30 years and massive poverty. Afghanistan also has the highest number of people in the world facing the risk of famine and there are increasing human rights violations by the country's new Taliban rulers, senior U.N. officials said Thursday. The grim picture of the hardships and perils facing Afghanistan’s 38 million people was presented by U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and the U.N. deputy special representative for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov. They spoke during a Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, a meeting scheduled before Wednesday’s powerful quake in the east that Afghan state media said killed 1,000 people. U.N. estimates gave a lower death toll, saying around … [Read more...] about UN officials: Afghan quake adds to emergencies in country

MANILA, June 28, 2022 (AFP): Rodrigo Duterte steps down as president Thursday after a six-year term marked by a bloody drug war, a devastating pandemic and the worst economic crisis in decades. The 77-year-old authoritarian firebrand has been succeeded by the son and namesake of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was swept to victory in a landslide last month. Here are the key elements of Duterte's legacy: - Drug war - Duterte was elected in 2016 on a promise to get rid of the Philippines' drug problem, openly ordering police to kill drug suspects if officers' lives were in danger. At least 6,248 people died in police anti-drug operations, official government figures show. But rights groups estimate tens of thousands have been slain by police and shadowy vigilantes, even without proof they were linked to drugs. The campaign was widely condemned and sparked a probe by the International Criminal Court, but it did little to dent Duterte's popularity among many Filipinos … [Read more...] about Duterte’s legacy as Philippines president – infamous for his deadly drug war – steps down on Thursday (June 30)

America is starting to take family policy seriously. Record‐low birth rates, increasingly delayed or deferred weddings, and the rising cost of raising a child are leading policymakers and pundits to suggest new approaches to supporting family life in law—through the tax code and welfare programs—and across society. And with the Supreme Court looking to turn the page on Roe v. Wade , there will doubtless be renewed talk about fertility and family life, and what sort of responsibility policymakers have to support pregnant women and parents. In these debates, it will be essential to have an accurate picture of the threats facing the American family. The conventional approach of both the neoliberal Left and the laissez-faire Right has certainly threatened families' economic stability—but those threats can, at times, be overstated. At the same time, discussions of family policy need to center around the institution of the family itself, and acknowledge that we can't be indifferent … [Read more...] about Assembling the mosaic of American family life | Opinion

Hi y’all. I am Tami Rose and I love Mississippi. I love our beautiful wide-open spaces and all our amazing waterways. I come from a beautiful state where the people are so precious and kind to one another in everyday life. We hold doors for each other and make eye contact and speak to strangers. We are the hospitality state, and we try to make everyone feel welcome. Yet at a political level, especially when history gets involved, we can be unspeakably cruel to each other. I cannot say how ashamed I am of my state today. It grieves my soul that Mississippi will play an instrumental role in overturning Roe v. Wade . This opinion is a nuclear bomb to the health and autonomy of women. Additionally, it will roll back all of the gains our society made over the last half-century—especially as it is couched in this blistering opinion by Justice Alito that has been leaked from the Supreme Court. The Alito opinion as written does not just roll back Roe v. Wade —it severely limits … [Read more...] about I Own a Sex Shop in Mississippi. SCOTUS Is Coming for Me Next.

Six years to the day after Britain voted to leave the European Union the Brexit process is, at best, a work in progress and the risk remains of the UK drifting back into the EU’s orbit if action is not taken, Nigel Farage has warned. Britain’s establishment has refused to let the people of the United Kingdom enjoy any possible benefits of Brexit and there are several steps that must be taken to truly realise Britain’s departure from the European Union, ‘Mr Brexit’ Nigel Farage said. Identifying the “obstructionist… negative” permanent government — the Civil Service — as the Westminster swamp that is still to be drained and the tax-cutting moves the government could choose to make to ease the cost of living crisis now it is no longer bound by EU rules, the Brexit leader said the most important step now is to complete Brexit by withdrawing from the remaining pan-European bodies Britain remains inside. Particularly in Mr Farage’s crosshairs as he spoke on the sixth anniversary … [Read more...] about Six Years After Britain Voted For Brexit The Job Still Not Done: Farage

The Public Distribution System in Tamil Nadu is a success story, in its coverage as well as its pricing. Each family, whether below the poverty line or not, is entitled to 20 kg of rice at Re. 1 a kg. The State Government opted for universal coverage for both practical and good political reasons. Effective targeting of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families was felt to be an administratively difficult task, and there was a genuine risk of the people most in need of food security being left out. The State is now deservedly held up as a model for effective implementation of a comprehensive food security system. When the DMK Government took office in 2006, one of its first steps was to supply rice through the PDS for Rs.2 a kg. This was a key election promise of the party. In September 2008, the PDS price was reduced to Re.1 a kg of rice. From May 2007, in addition to rice, kerosene, and sugar, Tamil Nadu has been issuing wheat, wheat products, pulses and palmolien to cardholders — under … [Read more...] about Behind the success story of universal PDS in Tamil Nadu

Lebanon will soon launch an international tender for the construction of a new terminal at the country’s only international airport in Beirut , a caretaker Cabinet minister said Wednesday, with hopes of accommodating a projected rise in visitors. The airport had a major facelift after the country’s 1975-90 civil war, and has been working at full capacity for years as the government's expansion plans have been repeatedly delayed. Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamie told reporters at the airport that a tender for the $70 million project to build a second terminal at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport is being prepared. He said Terminal 2 will be for chartered and low-cost flights, as well those carrying Muslim pilgrims. Hamie said the project will be carried out by the private sector and will create hundreds of jobs at a time when Lebanon is in the grips of its worst economic crisis in its modern history. The airport currently handles 8 … [Read more...] about Lebanon to launch tender for $70 million airport terminal

It is difficult to overestimate the significance of Gustavo Petro’s election as the President of Colombia . For the first time in the two centuries of the independent history of the region’s third largest country (in terms of population), the Left has reached the Casa de Nariño, the presidential palace in Bogotá. It has done so with the highest number of votes of any President (more than 11 million), and after an election with the highest electoral participation rate (58%). This is also with the overwhelming support of the country’s youth. It has also brought to the vice-presidency, for the first time, an Afro-Colombian woman, Francia Márquez, an environmental activist from Cauca, one of Colombia’s poorest and most marginalised areas. A similarity Colombia’s unique history, which inspired the magical realism genre in Nobel Prize-winning novelist Gabriel García Márquez , makes it stand out on Latin America’s vast and colourful canvas. The same goes for Mr. Petro’s condition as a … [Read more...] about Yes, the Left is back in Latin America