Interesting Facts

According to research funded by Butterkist popcorn, the average British adult feels a true 'wave of happiness' eight times a week. (The main source of happiness was cuddling with a partner on the sofa.  Awww. How sweet. Unsurprisingly only 16% of respondents said that work made them happy.) Source

Norway has been named the world’s happiest country, according to the World Happiness Report 2017 . (Norway moved up 4 places, and knocked Denmark off the top spot into second place, by ranking highly on the main factors found to contribute to happiness: “caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance”. Iceland and Switzerland rounded out the top four. Sadly The UK sits in 19th place, beaten by Germany in 16th and the US in 14th. Poor old France is a miserable 31st in the standings. So much for Hygge. Although I guess to really experience Hygge, this sort of thing shouldn't matter.)

On World Book Day I thought I would share some scary facts about the land of Shakespeare and Dickens. According to the OECD, young people in England have the lowest literacy levels in the developed world. (One term used is "functionally literate", and around 16 per cent, or 5.1 million adults in England, can be described as functionally illiterate, in that they would not pass an English GCSE and have literacy levels at or below those expected of an 11-year-old. Another study conducted by the Royal Society of Literature showed that 1 in 5 Brits cannot name a single author of literature, and that 15 per cent of those surveyed believed that literature is too difficult to understand. Happy World Book Day!)

According to a report by BARB, the official body for collecting TV audience figures, nearly 5% of British homes do not own a television. (That's about 1.3 million UK households with no TV, but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't watch TV: Whilst some people prefer life without the gogglebox, changing viewing habits have led to many watching TV shows on their PCs, laptops or tablets. Nearly half of the households without TVs are people aged 16 to 44. It seems that millenials are increasingly turning to other channels for their entertainment.)

According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics, we Brits are ill for one fifth of our lives. (Women suffer the most, being sick for 19 years on average, compared with men who are poorly for 16 years. The most worrying aspect is that healthy life expectancy — the time spent feeling well — is growing at a slower rate than actual life expectancy, which means we are facing old age and ill health. )

15-year-old schoolboy Pranav Dhanawade, from the KC Gandhi High School, Kalyan, India, has become the first batsman to score 1000-plus runs in an innings in any form of cricket. (He reached 1000 runs in just 323 balls whilst batting against Arya Gurukul School in the Bhandari Cup (a tournament in India for under-16s). His score included 59 sixes and 129 fours, and his team declared the innings at 1465/3, which is also a world record, with Pranav unbeaten at 1009 runs. The previous record had stood for 116 years. Held by AEJ Collins since 1899 after he had struck an unbeaten 628 for Clark House against North Town House in the UK. I hope he's not a one-hit wonder.  Get it?  Oh never mind.)

According to a report from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, the Saturday job is dead. (In the 90s, nearly half of sixth-formers (16-17-year-old students) in the UK had a Saturday job, but that number had fallen to 18% by 2014. Now, before you say it's because youths of today are a bunch of lazy so and sos, it seems it's because they prefer to spend their time studying.  And they could well be right for doing so, as research from the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex found that taking a part-time job  while studying for exams, helped students gain work skills and pocket money for those teenage essentials, but had a negative impact on their exam results. I would still take a Saturday job.  No one cares about your exam results after a few years, but people always value experience.) Source

According to a study conducted by Virgin Active, more than a third (38 per cent) of Brits aged 25 and over say they have no desire to try anything new. (It gets worse: 16% of 25-year-olds believe their favourite foods, travel destinations, hobbies and even their friendships will remain the same for the rest of their lives!   24% admitted that they avoid even trying anything new because they are frightened of being laughed at. When you think about it, that's laughable.)

According to a study by insurance company RIAS the top reason for pulling a sickie from work was being too tired to get up! (The top six reasons given were:- Too tired to get up - 28% Felt I deserved a day off due to working hard recently - 23% Just didn’t want to go in - 23% To avoid a colleague - 18% Hungover - 16% Had something planned and didn’t want to use up holiday - 14% I'm surprised "I haven't been off sick yet this year," wasn't on there.)

According to a survey conducted by Confused.com, the average Brit lies about 10 times a week, 91 per cent have told a lie. (The most common lies were regarding vices:- 41% - the price of an item they had bought 25% - how much they drink 23% - eating habits, News.com.au reported 16% - past relationships 15% - where they were the previous night 14% - who they were with the night before Matt Lloyd, head of life insurance at Confused.com, said that little white lies are part and parcel of daily life. I'm glad he's not my husband.  Regarding the 9% who say they have never told a lie...)

According to a survey conducted by Tecmark, the average Brit checks his/her smartphone around 200 times a day. (The average smartphone user spends about 3 hours and 16 minutes every day on their phone, which amounts to about a full day a week. 4 in 10 of those surveyed admitted to feeling “lost” without their phone. I guess that is true, especially if they use a navigation app.)

The supermarket chain Morrisons has banned under-16s from buying caffeine-infused energy drinks. (The ban will only apply to drinks like Red Bull, that contain at least 150mg of caffeine per litre and has been introduced amid health fears about extreme caffeine intake by children, and staff have been instructed to challenge any customers who look under 25.)

Around 430,000 cremations take place in Britain each year. (There is a problem though - obesity. Standard coffins range from 16-20 inches, but, because of growing obesity coffins up to 40 inches are becoming increasingly common and crematoriums are having to widen their furnaces.)