Tag: research

Growing gulf between savers and those with debts amongst UK households, says new report

COVID-19 is having a massive impact on household finances, with personal debts increasing.  But some people are seeing their savings rise as their incomes remain unaffected and their spending has been curtailed, says a new financial inclusion monitor from the University of Birmingham and the University of Lincoln.

The research also shows that the impact of COVID-19 comes on top of poor economic performance in 2019 (a likely result of Brexit uncertainties).  Economic growth was negative and in the fourth quarter of 2019 it was zero. Furthermore, unemployment, under-employment and zero-hour contracts had all increased in 2019, while wages had started to fall in real terms towards the end of that year and into early 2020.

The 2020 briefing, now in its eighth year, highlighted that even though strains on family budgets were there prior to the pandemic, the impact of COVID-19 on top of this situation looks set to be monumental.

From just March to May 2020, between one quarter and one third of jobs were furloughed, and from March to April that year there were 2 million more claims for Universal Credit than there had been in the same period in 2019. By the end of May 2020, 28 per cent of the population said that COVID-19 had had a direct negative effect on their income.

For some households the Job Retention (furlough) Scheme and the boost to Universal Credit have been incredibly important interventions to support people’s incomes. However, those on ‘legacy’ benefits, are not seeing the same level of income protection, leading to a two-tier benefit system.

Karen Rowlingson, Professor of Social Policy and a member of the Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM) at the University of Birmingham, and co-author of the report said: “COVID-19 has had, and is likely to continue for some time to have, a devastating impact on UK household finances.

“But it is important to note that, even prior to the pandemic, family budgets and the UK’s economy more generally were already faltering in many ways, possibly as a result of Brexit-related uncertainties during 2019.”

“Our research shows these are extremely difficult times for the country and many within it. Some statistics reveal, however, that a significant minority of the population is unaffected, financially, by COVID-19 or, indeed, are somewhat better off financially as their incomes remain the same but their expenditure drops. Inequality is rising still further as a result.”

Other key findings of the report show:

  • Unemployment had started to increase even before the COVID-19 crisis, possibly due to Brexit-related uncertainties.
  • Underemployment was similarly trending slightly upwards again to 2.5 million in December 2019. And the number of zero hour contracts also began increasing again in 2019 to a record high of 974,000.
  • The Trussell Trust has seen a doubling of emergency food parcels going to children in April 2020 compared to April 2019.
  • Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, nearly 2 million families (6 per cent) said that they could not keep up with bills and regular debt payments according to 2018/19 data. Levels of problem debt were highest among renters, particularly council and housing association renters with Council Tax debt being the most common type of debt in 2018/19.
  • There has been an increase in the last year from 1,590 mortgage possessions in the third quarter of 2018 to 2,130 in the third quarter of 2019.
  • There is slightly more positive news in relation to financial inclusion with the number of people ‘unbanked’ reaching an all-time low in 2018/19. But there is growing concern about access to cash as bank branch closures escalate and free cash machines continue to disappear from local high streets.

Steve McKay, Distinguished Professor in Social Research from the University of Lincoln and a co-author of the report says: “COVID-19 has led to an increase in already high levels of anxiety about finances with an estimated 4.6 million people now in arrears on household commitments totalling around £6 billion.

“As the furlough scheme finishes at the end of October and the eviction ban on tenants has already ended we will see a further rise in personal debt and people losing their homes”

Download the Financial Inclusion Annual Monitoring Briefing Paper 2020.

How are communities responding to Covid-19?

Public Health Scotland would like to understand more about how communities have responded to the impact of Covid-19 on the way we live our lives, right now and in the next few months, and how local community groups and organisations have supported this.

We are looking for examples in two areas: 

  • Firstly, how communities have adapted to the challenge of how we get around – has the way you travel changed as a result of Covid-19? Perhaps by walking, wheeling and cycling more, or as a result of changes to public and community transport services. What impact has this had?
     
  • Secondly, we are looking for examples of how communities and organisations have used their local areas differently by adapting streets and spaces, for example for children’s outdoor play or for leisure and relaxation, or how they have used or changed existing spaces for example parks, areas with trees or grass.

If you have examples to share you can submit your information and we will be in touch with you.

Did your community group or local project receive copies of the COVID Food Group August newsletter? If not, don’t worry – a few are still available!

Email northedinnews@gmail.com to arrange delivery.

Churchill and Scotland: First scholarly research appeal launched

The official society studying the life and work of Winston Churchill has published an edition of its journal Finest Hour dedicated to Churchill and Scotland with a foreword by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The society is also launching an appeal for more information about Churchill’s many associations with Scotland to enable further study about how the famous wartime Prime Minister and the Scottish people affected one another.

The International Churchill Society (ICS), the official Churchill society founded in 1968, is among the first to collate and consider Churchill’s numerous but not always well-known connections to Scotland. 

Churchill said that the three most important things he received from Scotland were his wife, his constituency, and his regiment.

HGF9BY 1916.Churchill as Lieutenant-Colonel,commanding the 6th Battalion.the Royal Scots Fusiliers.Near Ploegstreert, Belgium. A Sinclair on WSC’s right.

During the First World War, he commanded the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front in 1916. His two leading officers were both future Scottish political leaders. Andrew Dewar Gibb, a founding member and subsequent leader of the SNP (1936–1940) was Churchill’s adjutant, and Archibald Sinclair, a future leader of the Liberal Party (1935–45), was his second-in-command. Both men are pictured seated next to Churchill with the other officers of the battalion in May 1916 (above). 

Churchill was the Liberal MP for Dundee for fourteen years. First elected in 1908, he was re-elected to the seat four times before finally losing (to a Prohibitionist candidate!) in 1922. The same year Churchill was elected to Dundee, he married Clementine Hozier, a granddaughter of the tenth Earl of Airlie.

In 1912, Churchill was among the first senior British politicians to call for Scottish home rule and UK federalism. He received his first government appointment from Scottish prime minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman in 1906. He was close friends with the former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery, in his time a highly regarded Scottish politician. 

Despite Churchill having had many other personal and professional connections with Scotland, there is little in the country today to mark his presence. Two plaques to his time in Dundee were erected in 2008, and there is an outstanding portrait of him by Scotland’s Sir James Guthrie in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. Otherwise, there are merely a handful of busts around the country including a miniature sculpture in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum. 

The International Churchill Society is launching a fresh appeal for new stories, facts, photos, and diaries about Churchill’s time in Scotland to expand the field of study further. The team is looking to publish a book in the coming year. 

Gordon Brown, former British prime minister (2007–10) said: 

“So much has been written about every aspect of Winston Churchill’s life that it is surprising that one important area—his relationship with Scotland—has commanded so little attention. 

“That is why this set of essays in Finest Hour must start to rectify this and rescues Churchill’s Scottish connections from the condescension of posterity.”

David Freeman, the editor of Finest Hour, said: 

“It’s so rare to find something new to say about Churchill and lo and behold it was right in front of us. There’s a compelling case that England’s greatest Englishman should also be a celebrated hero in Scotland.

“The connections are innumerable and substantial, and we’re thrilled to be among the first to bring these together formally. Finest Hour, our subscription magazine, is free to view this month to kick start this conversation. If you’re sitting with old photos or other memorabilia from one of his many trips to Scotland, please get in touch.”

Allen Packwood, Director of the Churchill Archives, said:

“Churchill is often thought of and referred to as a quintessentially English figure, but this overlooks a multitude of Scottish connections. I am certain that there is new material awaiting discovery in attics and basements that will shed more light on his reception, connections and activities in Scotland.

“We’re delighted to start that process with our dedicated team of academics and enthusiasts, and this is a conversation that we’re delighted to begin with Scotland and, indeed, the world.”

Please get in touch at Scotland@winstonchurchill.org if you would like to learn more or have information on Churchill and Scotland you would like to share with the team. 

Report explores employer views on Minimum Wage

New research shows there is broad employer support for further increases to the minimum wage, but that government must help businesses to adapt to a higher wage floor.

The report – based on a survey of over 1,000 businesses conducted at the outset of the coronavirus crisis – shows that over half (54%) support the UK government’s policy of increasing the national living wage to two-thirds of median income by 2024, with fewer than one in ten (9%) opposing this move.

The report – produced by Learning and Work Institute and Carnegie UK Trust – finds that most employers said that the increase would not have a negative impact on their business, or on wider UK employment. A majority (54%) of businesses said that a higher minimum wage could help boost UK productivity.

The report showed that there was more concern among the employers that would be most impacted by an increase in the minimum wage, and among the sectors hit hardest by coronavirus.

Over half (55%) of employers with higher levels of low pay said the planned increase in the minimum wage would have a negative impact on their business, nearly double the figure for all employers (29%). Employers in hard hit sectors such as hospitality (41%) and retail (38%) were also more likely to fear a negative impact on their business.

While half (50%) of businesses said that they would not need to do anything to respond to a higher minimum wage, some employers said they would have to make changes which could have implications for consumers and workers:

  • 22% of businesses said they would pass the cost on to consumers;
  • 15% would hire fewer members of staff;
  • 10% would increase the use of temporary or flexible contracts;
  • 10% would also reduce staff benefits such as bonuses, breaks and discounts.

Most employers believe additional government support would be necessary to help employers manage an increase in the minimum wage. The most popular measure was additional help to invest in skills and training (supported by 37% of employers) followed by a temporary reduction in national insurance contributions (33%). Just one in six (17%) said government should not provide any support to employers.

Joe Dromey, deputy director for research and development at Learning and Work Institute, said: “Increasing the minimum wage could eradicate low pay, and help to tackle in-work poverty. Our research has shown that not only is a higher minimum wage popular among workers – it is supported by most employers too.

“The government can still deliver on their commitment to increase the minimum wage. But with higher unemployment as a result of the coronavirus crisis, we need to ensure that employers are supported to adapt.”

Douglas White, Head of Advocacy at the Carnegie UK Trust, said: “That most employers support a higher minimum wage is encouraging: even before the onset of the pandemic, there were too many workers struggling on low pay.

“The economic challenges caused by COVID-19 means it is even more important that future decisions around the minimum wage are ambitious in delivering better pay for low paid workers, while recognising the real challenges that many businesses are experiencing and providing them with essential support. 

“We hope the ideas put forward in our employers’ survey are a helpful starting point for a dialogue about how the government can pursue its ambition to raise the wage floor without endangering job quality or employment.’  

In our next and final report in the Future of the Minimum Wage series, we will set out recommendations for how government can achieve a balance between raising the wage floor, locking in job quality and protecting employment for more workers.

We would be pleased to hear your views on the findings of the report and the future of minimum wage policy in the UK.

You can get in touch with us on Twitter @CarnegieUKTrust, using the hashtag #MinimumWage, or you can let us know your thoughts by emailing Gail Irvine, Senior Policy and Development Officer, on gail@carnegieuk.org.

Public encouraged to register for COVID-19 vaccine trials

Over 100,000 people have signed up for future COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials through the NHS COVID-19 vaccine research registry of volunteers are helping speed up efforts to find a safe and effective vaccine in the fight against coronavirus

UK researchers urge more volunteers across all groups to sign-up, especially the over 65s and those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds

Over 100,000 people have volunteered to take part in COVID-19 vaccine trials, helping to speed up efforts to discover a safe and effective vaccine.

The UK Government is today (Monday 17 August) encouraging more people to join the thousands of volunteers and sign up to the NHS COVID-19 Vaccine Research Registry to help the NHS in the fight against coronavirus and ensure potential candidates work for everyone.

To enable large-scale vaccine studies to take place across the UK, the aim is to get as many people as possible signed up to the Registry by October.

Researchers particularly welcome people from all parts of society, especially those who are more likely to benefit from a vaccine, including the over 65s, frontline health and social care workers, and those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

Clinical studies with a diverse pool of volunteers will help scientists and researchers better understand the effectiveness of each vaccine candidate and will considerably speed up efforts to discover a safe and workable vaccine.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: “From John O’Groats to Land’s End, everyone has played their part in tackling coronavirus from wearing face coverings to following social distancing guidance.

“Scientists and researchers are working day and night to find a vaccine that meets the UK’s rigorous regulatory and safety standards, but they need hundreds of thousands of people of all backgrounds and ages to sign-up for studies to speed up this vital research.

“I urge everyone to play our part in the fight against coronavirus and join the 100,000 people who have already registered, so we can help save and protect millions of lives.”

Chair of the government’s Vaccines Taskforce Kate Bingham said: “Protecting those at risk is the only way we will end this pandemic. That’s why we are working as quickly as possible to run clinical studies on the most promising vaccines to see whether they offer protection against COVID-19, whilst adhering to the UK’s strict safety and regulatory processes. And we need people throughout the UK to sign up to the registry to help us achieve this.

“Getting 100,000 volunteers on board is a great start but we need many more people from many different backgrounds that we can call on for future studies if we are to find a vaccine quickly to protect those who need it against coronavirus.”

Consultant Respiratory Physician and Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) PRC, Bradford, Dinesh Saralaya said: “The best way to protect us from future outbreaks is to develop effective vaccines. Several vaccine trials are being conducted around the UK in the coming months and it is important that we all sign up to be contacted about them.

“I would like to reassure people that research trials and studies are strictly regulated for ethics and safety. They are conducted within the framework of the NIHR, which is the research partner of the NHS, and we take every precaution to safeguard participants taking part. This includes appointments in settings like sports halls close to where people live and work rather than in hospitals.

“By working together, we can produce efficient vaccines which are likely to protect all sections of our society from this dreadful virus in future.”

18-year-old Marium Zumeer from Bradford, who was hospitalised after contracting COVID-19, has first-hand experience of the benefits of taking part in clinical trials.

During her time in intensive care, she was offered the opportunity to take part in the national RECOVERY trial, which is testing a range of potential treatments for COVID-19. This includes the drug dexamethasone, which was found to be the first drug to be effective when treating those who are critically ill with the virus.

RECOVERY trial volunteer Marium Zumeer said: “I will always be grateful for being encouraged to sign up. I remember my dad at the time urging me to take part, not just for myself but for the wider community.

“The result has been really positive for me and I would encourage others to do their bit in helping us all in the fight against coronavirus.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said: “I’m very grateful to those who have volunteered for researchers to contact them to take part in COVID-19 vaccine studies, via the NHS COVID-19 vaccine research registry. The more people who volunteer to take part the more likely we find an answer to whether any vaccine is effective.

“Having 100,000 volunteers in just four weeks shows the selflessness of the public and is testament to the speed of work done by the Vaccines Taskforce, National Institute for Health Research and others to make signing up possible.

“I urge people to continue to sign up. It is important that we have people from different backgrounds and ages as volunteers, so that the vaccines that are developed work for everyone.”

A number of trials in the UK are expected to begin this autumn, working with the NHS, research institutions and businesses, helping to develop and manufacture the vaccines.

Launched on 20 July, the NHS COVID-19 Vaccine Research Registry is an online service allowing members of the public to register their interest in COVID-19 vaccine studies and be contacted to participate in future clinical trials.

Vaccines are tested in stages to ensure they are safe and effective. Volunteers who are contacted to take part in trials will be given information about what stage a particular vaccine is at and details of how it has already been tested. They will be able to consider this when deciding to take part and people can withdraw from the registry at any point.

The Registry has been developed by the government, in partnership with the NIHR, NHS Digital, the Scottish and Welsh governments and the Northern Ireland Executive.

Researchers warn of impact of ‘lost decade’ in adult social care

Urgent reform of the funding of UK adult social care is needed to save a desperately overstretched system which has now reached breaking point, warn policy experts at the University of Birmingham.

The crisis is partly the result of a ‘lost decade’ in which policymakers systematically failed to act on alarms raised back in 2010, say the researchers in a hard-hitting report published in the Journal of Social Policy.

In what is described as “the first analysis of its kind to present policy makers with different scenarios for adult social care funding and reform, to view these in practice (by comparing them to nearly a decade of policy) and to set out the relationship between future economic growth and the provision of sustainable adult social care”, the team, led by Professor Jon Glasby in the School of Social Policy, asserts that without swift Government intervention, the adult social care system could quickly become unsustainable.

The 2020 update was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council part of UK Research and Innovation,  as part of the research titled “Sustainable Care: connecting people and systems, 2017-21”, led by the University of Sheffield’s Professor Sue Yeandle.

The article draws on and updates a 2010 review of the reform and costs of adult social care – commissioned by Downing Street and the UK Department of Health – which concluded the system was widely recognised as “broken” and that, with no action, the costs of adult social care could double within two decades.

Moreover, this would be the case for current services and approaches (which had already been strongly criticised for failing to fully and appropriately meet need), leading to significantly higher costs with no improvement.

Jon Glasby, lead author of the report and Professor of Health and Social Care at the University of Birmingham, said:  “Our research has explored the future reform and costs of adult social care, and the high cost of inaction. 

“In 2010, we were adamant that doing nothing was not an option.  Our 2020 update shows that, without swift Government intervention, the adult social care system could quickly become unsustainable.  Even though this research was carried out before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, urgent action is likely to be even more pressing in the current context.”

Not only were these warnings not heeded – but the situation has since got worse. 

Adult social care has always been organised differently and funded less generously than health care, and has faced a combination of pressures caused by demographic change, increased costs, and rising need,  compounded by cuts to public expenditure.

Ambitious plans for a ‘National Care Service’ were not implemented, while the austerity agenda led to a decade of spending cuts, service pressures, and a growing sense of crisis.

Predictably, the result has been greater unmet/under-met need, more self-funding, lower quality care, a crisis among care providers, and much greater pressure on staff, families and partner agencies.

 Cuts have also fallen heaviest on older people, with services for working age people less affected.  Despite the legitimate needs of other groups, it is hard to interpret this other than as (at least in part) the product of ageist attitudes and assumptions about the role and needs of older people.

While the situation is urgent, the human misery caused by this ‘lost decade’ is not as visible as financial pressures on more prominent, popular and better understood services, such as hospitals or schools:

 “When social care for older people is cut to the bone, lives are blighted, distress and pressure increase, and the resilience of individuals and their families is ground down”, says the paper. “Yet this happens slowly – day by day, week by week, and month by month. It is not sudden, dramatic or hi-tech in the way a crisis in an A&E department may be, and tends to attract less media, political and popular attention…  With yet more urgency than in 2010 we warn: Doing nothing is NOT an option.”

The article is published by the Journal of Social Policy, and is entitled ‘A lost decade?  A renewed case for adult social care reform in England’, by Jon Glasby, Yanan Zhang, Matthew Bennett and Patrick Hall (all at the University of Birmingham.)

Salt water solution to reduce coronavirus progression?

A simple salt water solution may help to reduce the early symptoms and progression of Covid-19, University of Edinburgh research suggests.

This new study builds on a trial, published in 2019, designed to identify a low cost and easily accessible intervention against the common cold.

It found that participants who gargled and cleared their nose with a salt water solution reported fewer coughs and less congestion. Gargling also cut the length of their cold by almost two days.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh say the sea salt may work by boosting cells’ antiviral defence that kicks in when they are affected by a cold.

The team has re-examined the data and discovered the same benefits were also experienced by those participants who were infected with one of the four common coronaviruses known to cause colds.

Researchers now aim to investigate whether the same solution will benefit those who are experiencing symptoms of the new strain of coronavirus, which causes Covid-19.

The study is recruiting adults in Scotland with Covid-19 symptoms or a confirmed case of Covid-19. Those who join the trial will be asked to follow government advice on hygiene and self-isolation, with one group asked to gargle and clear their nose with salt water.

The study is funded by BREATHE – the Health Data Research Hub for Respiratory Health.

The original pilot study – known as the Edinburgh and Lothians Viral Intervention Study, or ELVIS – recruited healthy adults within two days of them contracting an upper respiratory tract infection – commonly known as a cold.

The participants were divided into two groups with one group asked to gargle and rinse their nasal passages with a salt solution as they felt necessary. The other group dealt with the cold the way they normally would do.

All participants kept a diary of their symptoms for up to two weeks. Self-collected swabs were also tested to measure the amount of cold virus in their nose.

Those who did nasal irrigation and gargling with the salty solution had a shorter cold, were less likely to pass it on to their family, had faster viral clearance and were less likely to use medicines from a pharmacy.

Professor Aziz Sheikh, Director of the University’s Usher Institute, said: “We are now moving to trial our salt water intervention in those with suspected or confirmed Covid-19, and hope it will prove to be a useful measure to reduce the impact and spread of the infection.

“It only requires salt, water and some understanding of procedure, so should, if found to be effective, be easy – and inexpensive – to implement widely.”

To find out more about the study and to take part, please go to https://www.ed.ac.uk/usher/elvis-covid-19.

Contact-tracing app: We trust the NHS!

The UK public want the NHS to be the controlling body in Covid-19 contact-tracing app, says new research.

The public have massive trust in the NHS, who should have control and access to data in the Covid-19 contact-tracing app, according to new research by researchers at the University of Birmingham and in WMG at the University of Warwick.

Carsten Maple, Principal Investigator of the NCSC-EPSRC Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research at the University of Warwick, who led the research, said: “With all of the possible design choices for a contact-tracing app, many commentators and experts have argued which approach is in the best interests of the public.

“For example, some have argued that centralised apps create privacy invasions that are unacceptable; others have argued that to be effective the apps should be centralised.

“However, as yet, the opinions of the public have not been gathered and so we have undertaken a significant survey to elicit their thoughts. We have examined how important privacy is to them and how willing they are to engage and share information.”

Dr Rebecca McDonald, lecturer in experimental economics from the University of Birmingham said: “The first encouraging results of our study are that only 9.6% of the public always chose to opt out of using the contact tracing apps we described to them.

“We asked people to express a direct preference between controlling the pandemic or preserving privacy, and we found that over half (57.4%) of participants favoured prioritising controlling the pandemic over privacy contrasting with around a fifth (20.1%) favouring  protecting privacy over controlling the pandemic.”

However the most powerful and important result from the survey was the contrasting degrees to which participants trust different agencies or individuals with their data, even when anonymised.

The group least trusted to be given access to this data was other app users but by far the most trusted group or organisation was the NHS.

Professor Carsten Maple in WMG at the University of Warwick said: “It is clear that the NHS enjoyed overwhelming trust in terms of access to personal data collected by such apps, even when anonymised. 

“Surprisingly, respondents’ choices suggest they would be most concerned about the decentralised approach that protects from Government access to information and instead shares information among other app users.

“The results indicate that users want a centralised approach, like the one currently being adopted by NHSX.”

“Our research clearly shows that the public is broadly supportive of the use of a COVID-19 contact tracing app and would download it in significant numbers, providing the app providers listen to their wishes on who should have access to their data.The NHS is by far the most trusted gatekeeper for that data.”

The table below shows in percentage terms how much more willing people are to use an app when their data is shared with different organisations (as in a centralised approach), compared to when it is shared with other app users (as in a decentralised approach).

NHS 70.5%
Researchers 53.4%
National Government 18.9%
Local Government 13.0%

The research highlights that people have a strong desire to understand the way a contact tracing app would work, and many respondents said they would need control over what data is shared about them, and who it is shared with, before they would be willing to download the app.

Since widespread uptake is needed for the app to be effective, addressing these potential barriers has to be at the heart of any large-scale roll out of the contact tracing app. The appetite is there, but the public need transparency in order to trust, download, and use the app.

The research also found that public would also have concerns about linking proximity data to other data sources. (They were particularly concerned about the linkage of their shopping location from credit/debit cards data).

Some also had concerns about practical things like the impact on their phone’s battery life, or the amount of data the app might need to use.

Food for thought: ‘pandemic eating’ research

People’s eating habits during the pandemic are providing food for thought in a new piece of research, co-led by the University of Northampton.

The ‘Food, Mood and You’ study is looking to survey people over the age of 18 each day for a single week in which they note their activities, their emotions and how they are eating.

The results for the UK will be collated over the next two weeks and volunteers can register and take the survey online.

The study is also being rolled out across countries including Australia, Canada, USA, Finland, Spain, Italy, Russia, Portugal, China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Korea.

Dr Josephine Chen-Wilson, Senior Lecturer in Developmental and Educational Psychology, is the UON lead. She said: “There are lots of anecdotal conversations about how we are supposedly eating more during lockdown – perhaps due to boredom – but no firm evidence about this and, more importantly, why that is happening, if at all.

“It will be fascinating to see what’s actually going, so I encourage people to take part in our survey and help us add another piece to the complex jigsaw puzzle of human behaviour during our ‘new normal’.”

Professor Tracey Devonport at University of Wolverhampton has been working collaboratively with colleagues from UON and University of Jyväskylä, Finland (Dr Montse Ruiz).

She adds: “It is likely that we have all heard friends and family talking about eating more during the COVID-19 pandemic because they are experiencing emotions such as boredom, stress or frustration.

“We wanted to develop a research project that explores emotions and eating and in doing so provide simple interventions that may help manage emotional eating during these challenging times.”

*The survey can be taken online.

Increased health risks later in life for child abuse survivors, new study finds

People who have experienced maltreatment during childhood are significantly more likely to develop conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and type two diabetes in adulthood, a new UK study has found.

Childhood maltreatment, which includes any form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect experienced by those under the age of 18, is a prevalent global public health issue thought to affect 1 in 4 children in the UK and 1 in 3 globally.

This study, led by the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick, reviewed anonymised data from 241,971 patients using medical records from GP surgeries between 1995 and 2018. 80, 657 patients were identified to have a history of childhood maltreatment compared with a control group of 161 314 unexposed patients.

The study is the first to use UK primary care data to explore the relationship between childhood maltreatment and cardio-metabolic disease.

Results of the study, published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, showed that those with a history of childhood maltreatment were 71% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, and 42% percent more likely to develop high blood pressure as well as the risk of developing type 2 diabetes doubled. Patients were also at a 75% increased risk of dying of any other cause during the study period.

Although the research could not ascertain why this relationship exists, previous research suggests that exposure to childhood maltreatment can influence the alteration of the immune, metabolic, neuroendocrine, and the autonomic nervous system.

Additionally, this group may experience greater exposure to other risk factors which may be associated with cardio-metabolic disease.

Lead author Dr Joht Chandan of the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Applied Health Research and Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick said “Considering the high prevalence of childhood maltreatment globally, these findings suggest a substantial, but preventable burden of cardio-metabolic disease.

“The findings are particularly notable within the United Kingdom, where conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes pose an increasing burden on the health service.

“Considering that an estimated 1 in 4 children within the UK are affected by maltreatment, our findings could suggest that a significant proportion of the cardio-metabolic disease cases may be attributable to maltreatment.

“Therefore, there is a clear public health message that requires a population- based approach to not only prevent childhood maltreatment but also the negative consequences as a result of it.”

This latest study adds to a growing body of research published by the team at the two Universities examining the physical and psychological effects of domestic abuse and childhood maltreatment.

Earlier this year, the team published research that found that women who have experienced domestic abuse are 40 per cent more likely to die from any cause compared to the general population while a study in 2019 found that abused or neglected children are four times more likely to develop serious mental illness.