Childhood disadvantage and intergenerational transmissions of economic status

Report background: This report summarises presentations and discussion at a workshop on ‘Persistent Poverty and Lifetime Inequality’ organised by HM Treasury and chaired by John Hills, Director of the ESRC Resarch Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics. It took place on 17 and 18 November 1998. The Treasury decided to hold this workshop to encourage debate and extend understanding of the causes of persistent poverty and inequality of opportunity, drawing on the large amount of new research using panel datasets. These new datasets make it possible to move from a static analysis of poverty and inequality to a dynamic focus. Looking at the dynamics of poverty and inequality of opportunity enables us to pinpoint the processes and events which lead people to be at greater risk of low income and poorer life chances. These data provide a much firmer underpinning for policies which aim to tackle these problems at source

Human resource management as a substitute for trade unions in British workplaces

The authors use British workplace data for 1980–98 to examine whether increased human resource management (HRM) practices coincided with union decline, consistent with the hypothesis that such practices act as a substitute for unionization. Two initial analyses show no important differences between union and non-union sectors or between newer workplaces (which are likelier to be non-union) and older ones in the pattern of HRM practices over time; and the study’s longitudinal analysis picks up no evidence of faster union decline in workplaces or industries that adopted HRM practices than in those that did not. Not only is the hypothesized substitution effect thus not supported, but the authors even uncover some evidence of a complementarity between unions and HRM practices. The authors conclude that increased use of HRM practices is probably not an important factor underpinning union decline in Britain

Educational achievement and ethnicity in compulsory schooling

This paper analyzes the evolution of the attainment gap between white British born and ethnic minority pupils throughout compulsory schooling, from the age of 5 to 16. At the start of school, pupils from most ethnic groups substantially lag behind White British pupils, but these gaps decline for all groups throughout primary and secondary school. Language is the single most important factor why most ethnic minority pupils improve relative to White British pupils. Although poverty explains part of the differences in levels, it cannot explain why ethnic minority pupils gain relative to or even overtake White British pupils. All ethnic minority groups initially attend worse performing schools than White British pupils. However, more than 20 percent of the subsequent relative improvement can be attributed to ethnic minority pupils moving up to better schools relative to White British pupils. Finally, our results suggest the possibility that the relative improvement of ethnic minority pupils may be related to teacher incentives to concentrate attention on particular pupils, caused by the publication of school league tables at the end of secondary school

Patients with Essential thrombocythaemia have an increased prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies which may be associated with thrombosis

A significant proportion of patients with Essential Thrombocythaemia (ET) have thrombotic complications which have an important impact upon the quality, and duration of their life. We performed a retrospective cross sectional study of the prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) in 68 ET patients. Compared to 200 elderly controls (> 50 years) there was a significant increase in anticardiolipin IgM (p < 0.0001) and anti β2 glycoprotein I (anti-β2GPI) IgM (p < 0.0001) antibodies in ET. Thrombosis occurred in 10/20 with APA and 12/48 without, p = 0.04, relative risk 2.0 (95% confidence intervals 1.03-3.86); these patients did not differ in terms of other clinical features. The prevalence of thrombosis in patients with dual APA (6/7) was significant when compared to those with single APA (p = 0.02) and the remaining patients (p < 0.0002). Also anti-β2GPI IgM antibodies either alone, or in combination with another APA, were associated with thrombosis (p = 0.02). These results suggest that the prevalence of APA in ET and their influence upon thrombotic risk merit investigation in a larger study

Translation to practice: a randomised controlled study of an evidenced based booklet targeted at breast care nurses in the United Kingdom

BACKGROUND: In the United Kingdom (UK), it was documented that a problem of knowledge transfer existed within the speciality of breast-cancer care, thus depriving patients of receiving optimal care. Despite increasingly robust research evidence indicating recommendation of whole body exercise for people affected by breast cancer, commensurate changes to practice were not noted amongst breast-care nurses (BCNs). AIM: To evaluate the effect of a targeted booklet, Exercise and Breast Cancer: A Booklet for Breast-Care Nurses, on changes in knowledge, reported practice, and attitudes of BCNs in the UK. METHOD: A prospective, experimental approach was used for designing a pre- and post-test randomised controlled study. Comparisons of knowledge, reported practice, and attitudes based on responses to a questionnaire were made at two time-points in two groups of BCNs (control and experimental). The unit of randomisation and analysis was hospital clusters of BCNs. The sample comprised 92 nurses from 62 hospitals. Analysis consisted of descriptive statistics and clustered regression techniques: clustered logistic regression for knowledge items, clustered linear regression for knowledge scores, ologit for attitude and reported practice items, and clustered multiple regression for paired and multiple variable analysis. RESULTS: A statistically significant increase in knowledge and changes in reported practice and attitudes were found. Robust variables affecting knowledge acquisition were: promotion of health, promotion of exercise, and understanding how exercise can reduce cancer-related fatigue. DISCUSSION: The study has shown that evidence-based printed material, such as an information booklet, can be used as an effective research dissemination method when developed for needs, values, and context of a target audience. CONCLUSIONS: This practical approach to research dissemination could be replicated and applied to other groups of nurses.</p

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three available genomic nomenclature systems for SARS-CoV-2 to all sequence data from the WHO European Region available during the COVID-19 pandemic until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation. We provide a comparison of the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.Peer reviewe

The effects of minimum wages on wage dispersion and employment: evidence from the UK wages councils

Using data on Wages Council coverage from the United Kingdom New Earnings Survey, the authors examine the impact of mandated minimum wages on wage dispersion and employment in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. They find evidence that a dramatic decline in the toughness of the regulation imposed by the Wages Councils through the 1980s-a decline, that is, in the level of the minimum wage relative to the average wage-significantly contributed to widening wage dispersion over those years. There is, however, no evidence of an increase in employment resulting from the weakening bite of the Wages Council minimum pay rates. Instead, consistent with the conclusions of several recent U.S. studies, the findings suggest that the minimum wage had either no effect or a positive effect on employment

Childhood disadvantage and intergenerational transmissions of economic status.

Report background: This report summarises presentations and discussion at a workshop on ‘Persistent Poverty and Lifetime Inequality’ organised by HM Treasury and chaired by John Hills, Director of the ESRC Resarch Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics. It took place on 17 and 18 November 1998. The Treasury decided to hold this workshop to encourage debate and extend understanding of the causes of persistent poverty and inequality of opportunity, drawing on the large amount of new research using panel datasets. These new datasets make it possible to move from a static analysis of poverty and inequality to a dynamic focus. Looking at the dynamics of poverty and inequality of opportunity enables us to pinpoint the processes and events which lead people to be at greater risk of low income and poorer life chances. These data provide a much firmer underpinning for policies which aim to tackle these problems at source.