Parents and schools across Greystones adopt voluntary ‘no-smartphone code’ in bid to curb peer pressure
On the principle of strength in numbers, parents in the Irish town of Greystones have banded together to collectively tell their children they cannot have a smartphone until secondary school.
Parents’ associations across the district’s eight primary schools have adopted a no-smartphone code to present a united front against children’s lobbying.
Continue reading...A large majority of those returning to the roost – or who never left it – are men, census data reveals
It is enough to make parents wonder: whatever happened to the bachelor pad?
At least 620,000 more grown-up children are now living with their parents than a decade ago – and most of those doing so are young men, census figures reveal.
Continue reading...Magnet for thousands of collectors of furry toys will close doors next week
Nineteen-year-old Molly Bell arrived in London early last week from Brisbane. By Wednesday, she had found her way to a tiny toy emporium in a nondescript street in north London to fulfil a dream. She needed to move fast as the Sylvanian Families shop, selling the eponymous toy animals and their habitats, closes on 22 April after more than 30 years.
Since 1992, the charming Highbury shop has been a magnet for thousands of collectors of the anthropomorphic animals – a magical grotto reminiscent of a bygone idyll.
Continue reading...Research finds ‘motherhood penalty’ is greater than 40 years ago, with mothers making 69% of fathers’ wages
The pay gap between mothers and fathers with post-school education has increased since the late 1970s in the UK, according to research.
As the world marks International Women’s Day on Wednesday, research from the University of Kent has found that the gap in pay between higher-educated mothers and fathers – the “motherhood penalty” – is greater now than 40 years ago.
Continue reading...Teachers condemn family support for trend escalating on social media that leads to school ‘stampedes’
The TikTok videos show pupils throwing bins, tables and even urine. Across England and Wales, a handful of schools have been hit by protests against rules such as banning trips to the toilet during lessons or regulations against rolled up skirts.
Schools admit they are extremely worried about the copycat protests that have erupted in the last two weeks, typically sparked by videos shared on TikTok with many thousands of views. But what has shocked many leaders most is the number of parents on social media applauding pupils taking part.
Continue reading...Call for more personalised approach on back of broader efforts to build deeper relationships with families
Personalised text messages to parents could be used to help improve school attendance rates, as teachers struggle to re-engage children and their families after the disruption of Covid, according to experts.
Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said there was a “national persistent truancy crisis” in England, with significantly more children now missing lessons compared with before the pandemic.
Continue reading...Bipartisan recommendation that would bring Australia in line with UN standards and is backed by advocates ‘noted’, but not supported
The New South Wales government says it will “review” a bipartisan recommendation to force judges to consider whether refusing bail to a parent accused of a crime would harm their children.
A NSW parliamentary inquiry last year called for the attorney general to change the law and “mandate” judges and magistrates to consider “parenting and caregiving responsibilities” when making bail decisions.
Continue reading...Angela Crawley’s private member’s bill aims to grant three days of statutory paid leave to grieving parents
Ministers have been urged to back proposals that would grant paid leave to parents who have experienced miscarriage.
Under current UK law, people are not granted maternity leave or pay if they have had a miscarriage.
Continue reading...Human Rights Commission says aspects of ParentsNext program have the ‘effect of penalising parents, overwhelmingly mothers’
Job agencies running the contentious ParentsNext program have called on the Albanese government to scrap compliance from the scheme, with one suggesting the current system is “morally questionable”.
In submissions to a parliamentary inquiry looking at the employment services system, the Human Rights Commission has also argued stopping social security payments under the program was “contrary to Australia’s human rights obligations”.
Continue reading...Climate crisis increases risks for subsistence farmers in Africa who usually work throughout pregnancy
Rising temperatures driven by climate breakdown are causing distress to the foetuses of pregnant farmers, who are among the worst affected by global heating.
A study revealed that the foetuses of women working in fields in the Gambia showed concerning rises in heart rates and reductions in the blood flow to the placenta as conditions became hotter. The women, who do much of the agricultural labour and work throughout pregnancy, told the scientists that temperatures had noticeably increased in the past decade.
Continue reading...Online black market exists where breast milk is bought by cancer patients, athletes and bodybuilders, among others
An exponential growth in Australians donating or selling breast milk online is putting infants at risk of disease, a bioethicist says, calling for human milk to be defined as a “tissue” and regulated in the same way as blood.
There are Facebook groups facilitating the donation or sale of breast milk in every state and territory. The “about” section for one group states: “Please post milky requests, offers and milk-sharing questions … It can be helpful to include details such as the age of your baby and your location or how far you are willing to travel.”
Continue reading...Labour-endorsed study finds initiative would save families thousands of pounds, cut benefits spending and raise tax revenues
Free universal preschool childcare and more funding for after-school clubs could increase government revenues and save a family with young children between £620 and £6,175 a year, a joint report endorsed by the Labour party has revealed.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the charity Save the Children have called for a universal childcare guarantee for all families until the end of primary school to allow more women to get back into work and reduce the attainment gap between rich and poor children in their early years.
Continue reading...Over 10% of early years providers say they will close if energy bill relief scheme not extended, survey reveals
Seven in 10 nurseries and preschools in England will have no option but to increase their fees without additional financial support from the government towards rising energy costs, according to a survey.
The sector is warning the energy crisis could be “a nail in the coffin” for many settings, with more than one in 10 saying they will be forced to close permanently without an extension to the government’s energy bill relief scheme.
Continue reading...Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the ruling party, criticised by opposition for ‘nonsense’ comments
Outrage built up in Poland on Monday after the governing party’s leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, claimed excessive drinking by young women was to blame for the EU country’s low birthrate.
Opposition politicians, female celebrities and others denounced the 73-year-old as out of touch and patriarchal, dismissing his comments as nonsense.
Continue reading...UK data shows authoritarian or neglectful parenting linked to higher weight in children and adolescents
Children whose parents lack warmth are more likely to grow up overweight or obese, according to the first study of its kind.
The effects of different parenting styles on children’s weight have been determined for the first time – and suggest parental warmth is key to a healthy weight, researchers at the International Congress on Obesity in Melbourne, the biennial congress of the World Obesity Federation, will say on Wednesday.
Continue reading...PM said to be planning shake-up of subsidy system whereby parents, rather than nurseries, get cash to spend as they see fit
Liz Truss is said to be considering a shake-up of the childcare subsidy system whereby parents, rather than nurseries, would be given government cash to spend as they see fit.
At present, all three and four-year-olds in England are entitled to 15 hours’ free childcare a week during term time, while some families can claim up to double that amount.
Continue reading...Particles breathed by mothers pass to their vulnerable foetuses, with potentially lifelong consequences
Toxic air pollution particles have been found in the lungs, livers and brains of unborn babies, long before they have taken their first breath. Researchers said their “groundbreaking” discovery was “very worrying”, as the gestation period of foetuses is the most vulnerable stage of human development.
Thousands of black carbon particles were found in each cubic millimetre of tissue, which were breathed in by the mother during pregnancy and then passed through the bloodstream and placenta to the foetus.
Continue reading...In the lead-up to Labor’s jobs and skills summit, unions have also called for payments to match actual wages and the inclusion of superannuation
Unions have called for a massive expansion of paid parental leave by extending it to 52 weeks, paying parents their actual wage and including superannuation.
A report released by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) on Monday night has suggested halving the gap in women’s pay and participation would boost the economy by $111bn.
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Continue reading...The chances of breakdowns are mitigated with food, but increased with the addition of siblings
Long traffic jams, bickering siblings, extreme boredom – most parents will know the signs to look out for when trying to prevent a full-blown backseat temper tantrum on a family holiday.
Now a statistician has calculated the exact formula for predicting the chances, and timing, of children throwing a tantrum in the back of a car during a long journey.
Continue reading...Residents of the New Zealand city have the world’s most extreme vocal changes when speaking to babies, a study has found
From small tribes in the remote Pacific islands to the teeming cities of China, humans share the common language of baby talk – but new research has discovered that Wellington, New Zealand, is the global capital of cooing.
An international study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, collected 1615 recordings of 410 people from 21 societies speaking and singing to an adult and then a baby in more than a dozen languages.
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