LSE NEWS
Research update Policy interventions needed to Western aid used to fight War counter entrenched inequalities on Terror not poverty with other industrialised countries and compared with 30 years ago. The panel found that ‘deep-seated and systematic differences’ remain between social groups across all of the dimensions it examined, although some of the widest gaps have narrowed in the last decade, such as between the earnings of women and men, or in the educational qualifications of different ethnic groups. The report identifies 16 areas where policy interventions are needed to tackle inequalities.
A report by the independent National Equality Panel, chaired by LSE’s Professor John Hills, has argued that policy interventions are needed at each life cycle stage to counter the way economic inequalities are reinforced over people’s lives and often on to the next generation. Inequality in earnings and in income is high in Britain, both compared
Professor Hills said: ‘Most people and nearly all political parties subscribe to the ideal of “equality of opportunity”. But advantage and disadvantage reinforce themselves over the life cycle. It is hard to argue that the large and systematic differences in outcomes which we document result from personal choices made against a background of equality of opportunity, however that is defined.’ Several other LSE academics contributed to the report. See: www.equalities.gov.uk/national _equality_panel.aspx
Erotic power can be just as useful as qualifications Michelle and Barack Obama have it. Jordan and Paris Hilton made a career from it. Erotic capital is the implicit but powerful commodity that can count just as much as educational qualifications in the labour market, politics, media or the arts. LSE sociologist Dr Catherine Hakim coins the term ‘erotic capital’ to refer to this difficult to define but crucial combination of physical and social attractiveness which makes some men and women agreeable company and colleagues, attractive to all members of their society and especially to the opposite sex. She argues that erotic capital should be recognised as a new fourth category of personal asset which each of us possesses to some degree (along with economic, cultural and social capital). ‘Of course it has long been known that beautiful women could use that advantage to get on in life. But it has been assumed that was a tactic to make up for their lack of economic or social power, which would become irrelevant when men and women became more equal’ says Dr Hakim. ‘Instead, I argue, erotic capital is something all of us trade on and we should see it as a major constituent of our social lives’. Read the report at http://esr.oxfordjournals.org/ papbyrecent.dtl 34
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Western aid in Afghanistan is being used primarily to support the fight against Al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgency rather than focus on relieving poverty and suffering, according to a new report by Professor Jude Howell and Dr Jeremy Lind of LSE’s Centre for Civil Society. Since the overthrow of the Taliban regime, Western aid has poured into the country and now stands at an estimated 2.3 billion US dollars a year. Professor Howell states: ‘It is now widely observed that much of this aid is being used to tackle the increasingly violent insurgency in southern Afghanistan, rather than being targeted at areas where humanitarian needs are most acute.’ Civil Society and the Limits of Legitimacy: aid, security and civil society after 9/11 in Afghanistan calls on aid agencies and other NGOs to examine more closely how they are being manipulated by the War on Terror. See: www.lse.ac.uk/collections/GWOT
Rise of the handyman Middle class fathers are increasingly using handymen to do household chores so that they can balance work and family life more effectively. Research by Professor Diane Perrons and Dr Ania Plomien of LSE and Dr Majella Kilkey of the University of Hull, found that the arrival of Eastern European workers has helped to fuel demand, although most handymen are still UK born.
time for parenting is to devolve “their” domestic work to others – handymen.’ The report calls for changes in government policy to encourage more fathers to ask for flexible and part-time working. See: lse. ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/ archives/2010/03/handyman.aspx
The study found that while mothers tend to reduce their working hours to become more involved with their children, fathers free up time at weekends by employing handymen to do traditionally male chores such as DIY, minor repairs and gardening. Diane Perrons said: ‘For fathers with long working hours, securing time for parenting tasks is difficult. For middle to high earners, one way of “making”
Prevention is cheaper than cure Investment in preventive social care services more than pays for itself in savings to the NHS, researchers have found. Academics from the Personal and Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at LSE and the University of Kent evaluated 146 Partnership for Older People Projects run from 2006 to 2009. Two-thirds of the schemes were aimed at reducing social isolation and exclusion, or promoting healthy living among older people, with
the remainder directed specifically at avoiding hospital admission or facilitating early discharge. Researchers found that the scheme could almost halve overnight stays in hospital, cut accident and emergency attendances by nearly a third and outpatient appointments by 11 per cent. See: www.pssru.ac.uk
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