Overcrowded housing has helped to spread Covid-19 in England and may have increased the number of deaths, according to research by the Health Foundation.

People living in cramped conditions have been more exposed to the coronavirus and were less able to reduce their risk of infection because their homes were so small, the thinktank found. Overcrowding was a key reason why poorer people and those from ethnic minority backgrounds in particular had been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, it said. Health Foundation researchers also concluded that overcrowding, together with other housing problems such as damp and insecure tenancies, had led to a rise in physical and mental health ailments.

“While some have weathered lockdown in large homes with gardens and plenty of living space, others have struggled in overcrowded and unsafe conditions. Overcrowding is associated with the spread of Covid-19, making self-isolation more difficult and allowing the virus to spread through more people if one becomes infected.” Adam Tinson, a co-author of the analysis and a senior analyst at the thinktank, explained.

 In March, 830,000 households in England were overcrowded, especially rented properties. That was 200,000 more than the number in that situation a decade earlier.

“People’s housing environments have affected their ability to shield themselves and others from Covid-19. People have been encouraged to stay in their homes as much as possible, but within-household transmission has played a serious role in the spread of the virus,” the analysis says. “Overcrowding, which has been increasing in the years prior to the pandemic, makes it harder to self-isolate and shield, and may have contributed to higher death rates in poorer areas.”

8% of households with the lowest income lived in overcrowded homes, compared with fewer than 1% of those with the highest earnings. Similarly, Ethnic minority households are five times more likely to be overcrowded than white households.

“… illustrating just one of the ways in which existing housing disparities are combining with the pandemic to further widen inequalities in health.”

People being forced to spend more time in overcrowded homes during this year’s various lockdowns has also caused or worsened mental health problems, especially those suffering distress. “Distress is generally higher for overcrowded households, and data from the pandemic period seem to show this intensifying during the more severe lockdown in April 2020, when 39% of people in overcrowded households were indicating psychological distress”, compared with 29% of those whose homes were not overcrowded, the analysis concludes.

“This analysis shows that mental ill-health has been a particular issue for those in overcrowded households during the pandemic, especially in the first lockdown. The chronic lack of affordable housing options, combined with years of reductions in support for housing costs, have led us to this point,” said Tinson.

The restrictions on movement and social mixing had also deepened loneliness among those living alone, the report said.

The coronavirus crisis poses the greatest threat to mental health since the second world war, with the impact to be felt for years after the virus has been brought under control, the country’s leading psychiatrist, Dr Adrian James, the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, warned.

 A combination of the disease, its social consequences and the economic fallout were having a profound effect on mental health that would continue long after the epidemic is reined in. As many as 10 million people, including 1.5 million children, are thought to need new or additional mental health support as a direct result of the crisis.  About 1.3 million people who have not had mental health problems before are expected to need treatment for moderate to severe anxiety, and 1.8 million treatment for moderate to severe depression, it found.

Cramped housing has helped fuel spread of Covid in England – study | Coronavirus | The Guardian

Covid poses ‘greatest threat to mental health since second world war’ | Society | The Guardian

Socialism does not claim it will end all natural disasters but it does say such a cooperative sciety would minimise and mitigate the effects of natures calamities.

Capitalism tends to classify such events in money terms, socialists look at them from the viewpoint of the human tragedies. Millions of people have had to cope with the impacts of extreme weather events. Researchers say that the influence of climate change on extreme events is strong and likely to continue growing

In 2020 floods in China and India causing damages of more than $40bn.

 Over a period of months, heavy flooding in India saw more than 2,000 deaths with millions of people displaced from their homes. The value of the insured losses is estimated at $10bn.

China suffered even greater financial damage from flooding, running to around $32bn between June and October this year. The loss of life from these events was much smaller than in India.

In the US, record hurricanes and wildfires, caused some $60bn in losses.

Africa was also on the receiving end of extreme events, with massive locust swarms ruining crops and vegetation to the tune of $8.5bn. The UN has linked these swarms to climate change, with unusually heavy rains in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa in recent years contributing to the locust outbreaks.

South Sudan’s floods weren’t among the costliest in dollar terms, they have had a huge impact, killing 138 people and wiping out this year’s crops.

Richer countries have more valuable properties, and on the whole suffer greater financial penalties from extreme events.

 The UK’s largest financial firms have handed their board members a near-80% pay rise since 2009.

Median pay for the three highest earning non-executive directors (NEDs) in each of the FTSE 100’s 17 financial firms surged from £90,700 in 2009 to £162,000 in 2019.

Board members overseeing the UK’s largest banks, insurance and investment firms are earning 79% more than they did a decade earlier, despite being in part-time roles.

The largest increases have been at Lloyds Banking Group, where top NEDs are earning 257% more than in 2009; the London Stock Exchange Group, where there has been a 219% rise; and investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, where fees have jumped 170%.

The median number of meetings now sitting at 26. The busiest among them sat through 48 meetings last year.

 The High Pay Centre said some board members were already earning more than 99% of the UK workforce, despite committing just a fraction of the hours.

“Many financial services firms paying six-figure sums to their NEDs will also have low-paid staff in branches, call centres or administrative roles struggling to make ends meet,” Luke Hildyard, the director of the High Pay Centre thinktank, said.

UK’s biggest financial firms have given boards near-80% pay rise since 2009 | Business | The Guardian

 Information comes from a 2020 Credit Suisse Global Wealth report reveals that:

 The top 1% of households globally own 43% of all personal wealth while the bottom 50% have only 1%. 

 The 1% are all millionaires in net wealth (after debt) and there are 52m of them. 

 Within this 1%, there are 175,000 ultra-wealthy people with over $50m in net wealth.

That’s a minuscule 0.1% owning 25% of the world’s wealth!

 The Credit Suisse global wealth report analyses the household wealth of 5.2 billion people across the globe. Household wealth is made up of the financial assets (stocks, bonds, cash, pension funds) and property (houses etc.) owned.  And the report measures this, net of debt. 

Most shocking is the still huge inequality of household wealth globally as shown by the wealth pyramid 

At the apex of the wealth pyramid, the report estimates that at the start of this year there were 175,690 ultra-high net worth (UHNW) adults in the world with net worth exceeding US$50 million.

At the end of 2019, North America and Europe accounted for 55% of total global wealth, with only 17% of the world adult population. In contrast, the population share was three times larger than the wealth share in Latin America, four times the wealth share in India, and nearly ten times the wealth share in Africa.

Wealth differences within countries are even more pronounced. The top 1% of wealth holders in a country typically own 25%–40% of all wealth, and the top 10% usually account for 55%–75%. At the end of 2019, millionaires around the world – which number exactly 1% of the adult population – accounted for 43.4% of global net worth. In contrast, 54% of adults with wealth below US$10,000 (i.e. pretty much nothing)  together mustered less than 2% of global wealth.

1% own 43% of global wealth, while billions have no wealth at all – Climate & Capitalism (climateandcapitalism.com)

 A Christmas Fancy

There’s those who don’t believe in Santa Claus,

Yet past folk had King Winter visit them

Long, long before the star in Bethlehem.

Then, later, riding through the snows

Came Jul astride eight legged Sleipner, blue cloaked

And gifting the good. After Senlac Hill

Lord Christmas went from castle to hovel,

While Tudor winter revels in log smoked

Halls were in the charge of Captain Christmas.

Even the Lord Protector’s severe ways

Were subverted by the mumming plays

When Old Father Christmas first made his pass.

And Santa? He brooks no borders so he

Can bring to each his need, and all for free.

D. A.

 People of Black African ethnicity in the United Kingdom typically have just one-eighth of the wealth of white British people, the Resolution Foundation said.

People of Black African ethnicity had on average 24,000 pounds ($32,175) of family wealth per adult, rising to 31,000 pounds ($41,569) for people of Bangladeshi ethnicity and nearly 42,000 pounds ($56,320) for those with mixed white and Black Caribbean ethnicity. People of white British ethnicity held 197,000 pounds ($264,166) of family wealth per adult, the Resolution Foundation said.

At least half of Black African, Bangladeshi and Black Caribbean ethnicity households held less than 1,000 pounds ($1,340) in savings before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

“Despite significant progress in closing education and employment gaps between different ethnic groups, these wealth gaps are likely to persist,” George Bangham, an economist at the Resolution Foundation, said. “Even high earners will struggle to save their way to being high wealth, while white British people are much more likely to inherit significant sums than those of other ethnic groups.”

UK’s ethnic wealth gap: Difference between groups widens | Coronavirus pandemic News | Al Jazeera

 After the financial crisis and the ensuing great recession that started in April 2008, the unemployment rate rose from 5.5% to 7.5% over 12 months. Over the same time period, wage growth – as measured by single-month average weekly earnings in the private sector – also fell sharply. This is what usually happens in a slump.

 But not this time around, in 2020. Something weird is happening to wage growth.

In the US, there was a big rise in the unemployment rate to just under 20% in April, before falling back steadily to 7.1% in November. But wage growth actually rose sharply, and was 5.9% in November. 

The picture is the same in the UK. After an initial drop into negative territory earlier this year, there was a sharp rise for -2.9% wage growth to 3.2% in October.

So, everyone is better off right? Actually not. XpertHR, a consultancy specialising in pay, reported that pay settlements limped towards year end with median settlements at 2%.

 It appears that what has happened both in the UK and the US is that the lower part of the wage distribution – the lowest-paid workers – has just dropped out. 

It’s a batting average effect if you like; the team average rises because batsmen 10 and 11 are not counted any more. We are not exactly sure, but it looks bad news. The issue is whether these jobs – many in pubs, clubs and restaurants – return after the furlough payments stop. But many jobs won’t return, if there are long-run changes in behaviour after the pandemic as expected.

It is unclear after Brexit and the end of the lockdown whether those jobs are coming back.

The puzzle of rising UK wages reveals an unprecedented and tragic truth | Business | The Guardian

 Known as the Nisour Square massacre, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten – were part of an armoured convoy that opened fire indiscriminately with machine-guns and grenade launchers on a crowd of unarmed people in Iraq. Prosecutors asserted the heavily armed “Raven 23” Blackwater convoy launched an unprovoked attack using sniper fire, machine guns and grenade launchers. The US government said in a memorandum filed after the sentencing: “None of the victims was an insurgent, or posed any threat to the Raven 23 convoy”

The pardons reflected Trump’s willingness to turn a blind eye to American service personnel and contractors committing atrocities against civilians. 

In 2014, Slough, Liberty and Heard were found guilty of 13 charges of voluntary manslaughter and 17 charges of attempted manslaughter, while Slatten, the team’s sniper who was the first to open fire, was convicted of first-degree murder. Slatten was sentenced to life; Slough, Liberty and Heard got 30 years each.

At the sentencing, the US attorney’s office said in a statement: “The sheer amount of unnecessary human loss and suffering attributable to the defendants’ criminal conduct on September 16, 2007, is staggering.”

FBI investigators who visited the scene in the following days described it as the “My Lai massacre of Iraq” – a reference to the infamous slaughter of civilian villagers by US troops during the Vietnam war

Lest we forget, the 14 victims killed by the Blackwater guards on trial were listed as Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubia’y, Mahassin Mohssen Kadhum Al-Khazali, Osama Fadhil Abbas, Ali Mohammed Hafedh Abdul Razzaq, Mohamed Abbas Mahmoud, Qasim Mohamed Abbas Mahmoud, Sa’adi Ali Abbas Alkarkh, Mushtaq Karim Abd Al-Razzaq, Ghaniyah Hassan Ali, Ibrahim Abid Ayash, Hamoud Sa’eed Abttan, Uday Ismail Ibrahiem, Mahdi Sahib Nasir and Ali Khalil Abdul Hussein.

Trump pardons Blackwater contractors jailed for massacre of Iraq civilians | Iraq | The Guardian

The fast fashion brand Boohoo is selling clothes made by Pakistani factory workers who say they face appalling conditions and earn as little as 29p an hour.

In the industrial city of Faisalabad, workers at two factories claimed they were paid 10,000 Rupees (£47) a month, well below the legal monthly minimum wage for unskilled labour of 17,500 Rupees, while making clothes to be sold by Boohoo.  In the rush to produce clothes for the western market, workers would sometimes do 24-hour shifts.

“I know we are exploited and paid less than the legal minimum, but we can’t do anything … if I leave the job another person will be ready to replace me.” explained one worker.

Workers in two factories based in the Samanabad area of Faisalabad allege that:

While some are paid the legal minimum wage, others say they earn far less and receive no receipt or payslip to record their income.

At Madina Gloves, which manufactures a range of clothes, workers are often ordered to work unreasonably long shifts without full overtime pay, stretching to 24 hours straight before major deadlines.

Accommodation provided by Madina Gloves is squalid and one worker said they went without running water there for days at a time.