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GMB analysis of figures for employment in councils for the third quarter 2011 shows that women account for 68.2% of the reduction in employment in local councils in England & Wales.
The South East is the worst affected region, with women accounting for 75.6% of the drop but they are more than 50% in every region. In 20 of the 375 councils, women account for 100% or more of the drop.
Web links — Page 2
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The Welsh Assembly’s new Jobs Growth Wales scheme will create 12,000 jobs for 16- to 24-year-olds. The jobs will last forsix months, and pay at least the Minimum Wage for at least 25 hours per week.
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Campaigning in Wales in the local government elections Vince Cable denies that the government will impose lower pay on Welsh public sector workers. Apparently, he says: “It would be wrong to do so and it’s practically impossible”. Well fancy that.
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Paul Krugman has a graph that says it all, charting EU nations' fiscal policy against their real GDP growth, 2007-11. And guess what?
There's a strong positive relationship between change in real government consumption as a proportion of initial GDP and change in real GDP.
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Alphaville presents a Moddy's review of US corporate cash piles – an amazingly high proportion is held by Apple:
"Apple alone represents $64 billion or 36% of the total $179 billion increase in corporate cash since 2009. And in 2011, overall corporate cash would have actually declined by $6 billion had it not been for Apple’s $46 billion increase. …
"Apple alone could represent 12% of total corporate cash, about three times more than the next cash king. …"
As Alphaville notes, America's top five companies account for 22% of the total.
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Paul Krugman has a great short answer to the "we've maxed out our credit card" argument.
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The report of the 2011 TUC Poverty Conference, with speakers including Frances O’Grady, Christine Blower, Natascha Engel MP and Owen Jones (author of Chavs).
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BBC News Magazine compares benefits now with poor law benefits paid before the “New” poor law of 1834 (which brought in workhouses).
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In 2006 Norway legislated to require that women should fill at least 40% of Board places in companies traded on the Oslo bourse. This study compares Norwegian and other Scandinavian companies and finds “that firms affected by the quota undertook fewer workforce reductions than comparison firms, increasing relative labor costs and employment levels and reducing short-term profits.”
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Michael Krauss summarises some research that sheds light on why inequality persists in America and which seems to be very likely true for Britain too: 1. People don’t realise the scale of inequality; 2. Social classes are less distinct; 3. There’s an assumption the rich will behave well (have a look below for an indication of why that may not be a good idea…)
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A series of studies by a team of American researchers has found that upper class individuals are more likely to lie and cheat and agree with unethical work behaviour.
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A new monthly report from the CCCS debt counselling service finds “households are spending 24% of their discretionary income – £199 per month – on interest payments.”
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USDAW, which represents 410,000 workers in retail and distribution, is in talks with a number of major companies "to examine their continuing participation in the Government’s Work Programme."
Like the TUC, USDAW supports schemes that provide reasl help for unemployed people but it is becoming clearer that the Work Programme is more about exploitation.
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