Interesting Facts

According to a survey by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) 1 in 10 Brits are walking from home - in bed! (19% work from the sofa on their laptop, but now chiropractors are warning against the impact this could be having on the health of their back. Now, as some of you know, I work from home, but I get up and go into the office when I'm running sessions.  PS - I am writing this on the sofa.) The BCA have put together a video on computer posture: http://www.chiropractic-uk.co.uk/For-You-89-Computer-Posture-119-ms.aspx

According to research from Japan, people over 40 perform best at work if their working week is restricted to 3 days. (They found that a part-time job keeps the brain stimulated, while avoiding exhaustion and stress. The bad news is that not working also damaged brain function. However, working extremely long hours was more damaging than not working at all.)

Research into sleeping patterns carried out at the University of Surrey, have shown that working night shifts sends the human body into chaos, and could cause lasting damage to health. (Working irregular shifts has a similar effect to severe jet lag or repeatedly missing sleep. Even more worryingly it has a damaging effect at the level of our DNA, with hundreds of genes, whose activity should rise and fall on a daily basis, losing their rhythm, and other genes developing abnormal cycles of their own. So basically not getting enough sleep is bad for you, and sleeping at the wrong time is bad for you too.  We can't win!) Source

According to a new survey, run by the London School of Economics, the University of Manchester, and BBC Lab UK, there are no longer three social classes in the UK. (But that does not mean Britain is a classless society, oh no. There are now 7 social classes, which are (from the bottom up):- The precariat, or precarious proletariat - Most deprived group, with low levels of all three capitals. The traditional working class - Low on all three capitals, but not the poorest. Older on average than other classes. Emergent service workers - New class with low economic but high 'emerging' cultural capital. High social capital. Predominantly young and often found in urban areas. New affluent workers - Medium levels of economic, but higher levels of cultural and social capital. Young and active. Technical middle class - New, small class, with high economic capital but less culturally engaged. Relatively few social contacts. Established middle class - High levels of all three capit...

According to a survey by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, nearly two-thirds of office workers continue working outside office hours. (The culprits are smartphones, notebooks and tablets, technology which has turned people into "screen slaves".  Admit it, we often work while commuting or after we get home. The main problem, apart from stress related illnesses, is that working in these environments encourages poor posture, which can lead to back and neck pain. Unions say that people need to learn to switch off their devices, so I'm going to make myself a cuppa now.)

According to the Tories, nearly two million people in Britain have never had a job. (Seemingly a further three million have not worked since Labour came to power. In the worst unemployment black spots, as many as a quarter of all adults have not held down a job since 1996. Of course the conservatives are the opposition party, and so they are calling it "horrendous". Labour could put a different 'spin' on it by saying "Over 5 million people in Britain haven't had to degrade themselves by working for Tory fat cats!")

According to a survey by "workingmum.co.uk" 74% of mums feel guilty for leaving their children to go to work. (The trouble is many stay at home mums feel guilty because they are not going out to work. It's a lose lose situation.)