Monthly Archives: December 2011

Men should be aware of how much time they spend working on a laptop

December 3, 2011   Cancer, health, internet

WiFi from laptops ‘may damage sperm’

The use of wifi has rocketed in recent years

“Working on a laptop wirelessly may hamper a man’s chances of fatherhood,” the Daily Mail has today reported. Its story is based on a laboratory study that found that healthy sperm placed under a laptop connected to the wireless internet for four hours, showed less movement and more changes to their genetic code than ‘control’ sperm not near a wi-fi connected laptop.

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Almost half of carers made ill by money worries

December 2, 2011   Carers, carersweek, ukcuts

Almost half of people who look after sick or disabled loved ones have themselves fallen ill because of money worries, a survey shows.

By , Social Affairs Editor

7:00AM GMT 02 Dec 2011

Carers said they had lost earnings because of their responsibilities but at the same time 45 per cent said they had run out of money because of extra costs for medicines, transport and specialist equipment.

Many carers said they had cut back on essentials such as food and heating just to make ends meet while almost a third were living on their bank overdrafts.

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Carers fear the fuel bills

December 1, 2011   Carers, fuel poverty

Fuel poverty affects a quarter of UK’s households as bills soar and pay freezes

Exclusive: Figure rises from a fifth of homes last year, meaning coalition will fail to meet its legal duty to end fuel poverty by 2016

 

Fuel poverty is defined as when a household spends 10% or more of its income on gas and electricity bills.

A quarter of all households in England and Wales have now fallen into fuel poverty following an autumn of steep increases in energy bills and stagnating incomes, the Guardian can reveal.

The dramatic increase in fuel poverty – up from nearly one in five households last year to one in four now – will be highly embarrassing to the government, which has a statutory obligation to eliminate fuel poverty by 2016. It now looks certain to fail to meet its legal duty.

Previous government projections forecast that this year would see 4.1m households in fuel poverty, which is defined as those who have to spend 10% or more of their income to achieve adequate warmth and light.

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