Should the basic state pension be a contributory benefit?

The basic state retirement pension is payable irrespective of means but it is a contributory benefit, not a universal benefit. Individuals who do not have enough National Insurance contributions when they reach state pension age are not entitled to a full state pension. They may receive a proportion of the pension or just the dependant’s addition to a spouse’s pension. This reflects the fact that the pension system in the UK, and the system of unemployment and sickness benefits, were designed around the contributory principle. As Dilnot, Kay and Morris (1984) pointed out in their comprehensive review of social security policy, ‘The Beveridge report took the contributory principle extremely seriously. Contributions were to be levied on an actuarially calculated basis to reflect the benefits received’. But ‘the retreat from this principle has been comprehensive ... The National Insurance fund was reduced to meaningless accounting and the actuarial link between contributions and benefits abandoned’. In this strong sense, we have never operated a contributory principle.

Pensioner income inequality

One-and-a-half million pensioners are dependent on the minimum means-tested benefit, income support. But the numbers on income support have barely changed in two decades despite substantial increases in its value and that of its precursor, supplementary benefit. At least another 2 million receive means-tested housing benefit or council tax benefit. At the same time, in 1992-93, 3 million pensioners paid over £5 billion in income tax, a small minority at the higher rate of income tax. Pensioners are poorer than the working population, and some are on very low incomes, but they are not uniformly poor.

Asset wealth and asset decumulation among households in the Retirement Survey

This paper examines the asset positions of households at and around retirement in Britain using the Retirement Survey ‘waves’ of 1988-89 and 1994. The data provide the first panel evidence on retirement behaviour and asset evolution for a sample of older households in Britain. The analysis in this paper shows the importance of housing and private pension wealth for this age-group in Britain, and also the differential wealth holdings between surviving respondents and those who died or failed to respond for other reasons in 1994. It provides some preliminary evidence as to whether households decumulate assets after retirement in accordance with the ‘textbook’ version of the Life-Cycle Hypothesis of consumption.

The dynamics of incomes and occupational pensions after retirement

This paper uses two waves of the UK Retirement Survey to look at how incomes change during retirement. We concentrate on men aged 65-69 and women aged 60-69 in 1988-89 and look at how their incomes change over the following five years. Overall, we find a considerable degree of stability in real incomes. We use the panel data to look at the incomes of widows before and after they are widowed and find that, for this group of relatively young widows, their low incomes are in large part determined by the fact that it tends to be the relatively poorer husbands who die among this age-group. Finally, we consider the most important component of private income — occupational pensions — separately. We find a strong relationship between pension level and the probability of indexation — pensions that start low are less likely than higher pensions to keep up with inflation.

Viewpoint: Fieldwork in Ecology as a Form of Experiential Learning- First-year university students’ experiences of a short experiential learning intervention

The small-scale research study reported on in this Viewpoint paper was conducted to determine the extent to which experiential learning in the form of fieldwork contributes to learning in Biology. The participants in the study were 36 first-year students registered for a module on Ecology. The conceptual framework that framed the study is experiential learning, which proposes that students learn more effectively through firsthand experience. The methodological approach to this study was interpretive as it attempted to interpret students’ responses to a survey as well as interview. It also attempted to determine whether students believed the fieldwork experience benefited them. The findings suggest that students who have very little prior experience of fieldwork do not benefit significantly with regard to understanding of scientific concepts, as is evident from students’ performance in the module. While a substantial number of students indicated in the questionnaire that they benefited from experiential learning, the benefits appear to be largely in the affective domain, rather than in the cognitive domain. The findings have implications for the expectations we have of experiential learning in first-year Biology courses. The paper is published as a Viewpoint paper, as the views developed through this small-scale study can be further analysed and tested through further research. It was a useful ‘first step’ in exploring a complex topic, that if it is to be fully understood would require further research into the issues raised by this small-scale study

Student teachers’ understanding and acceptance of evolution and the nature of science

The focus of this study was student teachers at a South African university enrolled in a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programme and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), respectively. The purpose of this study was to explore students’ understanding and acceptance of evolution and beliefs about the nature of science (NOS), and to discover if these understandings and acceptances changed with the level of their studies. In so doing, we wished to determine if there is a relationship between their understanding of evolution and the NOS, and their level of acceptance of evolution. The study is located within a quantitative framework. Questionnaires were administered to pre-service teachers, who were enrolled in the School of Education. All participants had chosen Biology as their teaching specialisation. Three instruments were included in the questionnaires. The findings revealed that students in the B.Ed. programme have a poorer understanding of evolution and NOS than the graduate group (PGCE), and that there is no significant difference in understanding between different levels within the B.Ed. group. A further significant finding was that acceptance of evolution is independent of changes in conceptual understanding of evolution and independent of changes in beliefs about the NOS.Keywords: acceptance; beliefs; evolution; nature of science; understandin

Recent developments in Lipodystrophy

Purpose of review: Lipodystrophy syndromes have an estimated prevalence of 1.3–4.7 cases per million and as with other rare diseases conducting research can be challenging. The purpose of this review is to highlight recently published work that has provided important insights into the field of non-HIV associated lipodystrophy syndromes. Recent findings: Lipodystrophies are a heterogenous group of disorders and as such research is often focused on specific subtypes of the condition. The identification of children affected by LMNA mutations provided insights into the natural history of FPLD2, specifically that the adipose tissue phenotype predates the onset of puberty. Recent reports of heterozygous null variant carriers and the apparent absence of a lipodystrophy phenotype challenges our understanding of the molecular biology of perilipin 1 and its role in the pathogenesis of FPLD4. With a focus on therapeutics, studies delineating the differential responsiveness of PPAR gamma mutants to endogenous and synthetic ligands illustrated the potential for pharmacogenetics to inform therapeutic decisions in lipodystrophy due to PPARG mutations, while robust human studies have contributed important insights into the food independent metabolic effects of leptin in lipodystrophy. Finally, rare syndromes of lipodystrophy continue to serve as an exemplar for the contribution of genetically determined adipose tissue expandability to metabolic disease in the general population. Keywords: Lipodystrophy; LMNA; PLIN1; PPARG; Leptin

Does Formal Environmental Knowledge Inform the Everyday Practices of Senior Secondary Biology Learners in Lesotho?

This paper explores the link between formal environmental knowledge encapsulated in the University of Cambridge International Examination Curriculum and learners’ ability to translate this knowledge into  everyday practices in Lesotho. The paper reports on research undertaken in three secondary schools in Lesotho based on an interpretive paradigm. Data was collected through questionnaires, followed by focus group interviews with learners. The findings suggest that learners have sound theoretical knowledge and awareness of environmental problems, but are not action competent with regard to such problems. In the context of this study, formal knowledge therefore does not inform everyday practices. Possible reasons for this may be due to a de-contextualised curriculum and a teaching and learning environment where ‘action competence’ is not nurtured

The meaning of relevant science in townships in Cape Town.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.This study explores the meaning of relevant science in two townships in Cape Town. Reform in science education, both nationally and internationally has placed much emphasis on the fact that science education should be relevant. The research conducted in this study attempts to interpret different dimensions of relevance. This study explores not only how learners make meaning of their everyday lives, but what 'science' they deem to be relevant and worth learning within this context. It acknowledges the important role of teachers in establishing what learners perceive to be relevant. The theory of social constructivism is suited to this investigation, in its recognition of the roles of children's knowledge, purposes, social groups and interactions in learning. The children in this study often have personal lives steeped in poverty, abuse and violence. The curriculum design is also guided by social constructivist theories. However, a second version of constructivism, critical constructivism, is used to frame the second phase of the study. A critical constructivist approach raises questions about the type of knowledge learners interact with. In critical constructivism, science and its methods, the curriculum and the classroom are opened up to critical inquiry. Teachers' knowledge of their learners is used to design science lessons that are more meaningful, relevant and personalised. The individual lessons, as well as the lesson series that are used in this study are designed as examples of relevant science, while the lesson series also serves as a tool to elicit deeper understandings of what learners in this particular context experience as relevant to their lives. Although the main focus of this research is the relevance of using everyday knowledge in the classroom, bringing everyday knowledge into the classroom allows for the inclusion of a number of dimensions of relevance. The different ways in which learners respond to the science lessons in both phases are discussed as five outcomes. The findings of the research show that the essence of a relevant science curriculum lies in a particular design. This design accommodates many dimensions of relevance, such as relevant content, context and purposes. Such as design helps learners to negotiate the difficult border between the formal school environment and the informal home environment. A relevant curriculum acknowledges that science education is more than only science, but also recognises the implications for science curriculum development. This study is part of a larger project which is a comprehensive evaluation of the Primary Science Programme (PSP). The PSP gave the research its full support as the investigation of relevance may have an influence on curriculum design

Key factors driving the foraging ecology of Oribi : fear, cattle and the quality and quantity of food.

Ph. D. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.Body size and digestive physiology are two factors that influence herbivores foraging behaviour, habitat use and potential to compete with other animals. The aim of this study was to determine how seasonal changes in grass quality, interactions with cattle, and perceived predation risk influenced oribi (Ourebia ourebi) foraging and landscape use. Oribi are one of the smallest pure grazing ruminants. As a result, they should select high quality vegetation. In line with this, I found that throughout the study oribi fed selectively over multiple spatial scales ranging from plant parts to habitats. By focussing on green grass within these different scales, oribi were able to maintain their crude protein intake needed for maintenance. Throughout South Africa, oribi frequently interact with cattle. Due to their differences in body size and nutritional requirements, there should be sufficient resource partitioning to avoid competition. However, I found that the nature of the interspecific interactions (i.e. competition or facilitation) between these species depended on season and cattle stocking rates. During the wet season, cattle facilitated oribi by providing high quality regrowth. However, at high stocking rates, cattle indirectly competed with oribi during the dry season via the impacts of their wet season grazing. Specifically, intense wet season grazing by cattle reduced the availability of high quality grass for oribi in the dry season. This was not the case at low and intermediate stocking rates. Differences in food availability and predation risk across habitats can influence how herbivores utilise landscapes. I found that predation risk greatly affected oribi foraging behaviour, with oribi preferring to feed in safer rather than riskier habitats. However, when food availability increased in these risky habitats, oribi increased their risk-taking behaviour at both small- and large-scales within these risky areas. Ultimately, this suggests that oribi trade-off between predation risk and food availability. Finally, to link my results to the management and conservation of this vulnerable antelope, I applied the knowledge I gained from the above research to a case study