tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/household-742/articlesHousehold – The Conversation2022-07-14T13:49:40Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1854432022-07-14T13:49:40Z2022-07-14T13:49:40Z‘Walk straight’: how small-town residents navigate without street signs and names<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472068/original/file-20220701-14-hg04ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C5069%2C3397&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Residents of rural areas depend on social interactions to give directions.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/napier-overberg-region-south-africa-the-r316-highway-news-photo/1263655234?adppopup=true">Peter Titmuss/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0261927X970161002">Linguistic landscape</a> is the study of languages used in signs. As most of the field’s pioneering studies were based on cities, research comes to be associated with <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?hl=en&lr=&id=YH2QAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA13&dq=coulmas+2009+linguistic+landscape&ots=0Ujx6ti7af&sig=4WpRZkRm1NW-HrXjs97_MX8E5Uk#v=onepage&q&f=false">cityscapes</a>.</p>
<p>However, a focus on written language or signage overlooks the reality that information is not always consumed and produced through writing. Additionally, associating linguistic landscape research with cities marginalises the experiences of people residing in “non-urban” spaces. Lastly, in South Africa, <a href="https://www.rimisp.org/wp-content/files_mf/1422297966R_ULinkages_SouthAfrica_countrycasestudy_Final_edited.pdf">the distinction between rural and urban environments</a> is not always clear.</p>
<p>An example of information that is primarily consumed and produced orally due to insufficient or non-existent written signage in “rural” parts of the Northern Cape province in South Africa is route directions. </p>
<p>As part of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03736245.2020.1786443?journalCode=rsag20">my PhD studies</a> in linguistics, I explored the oral strategies that people use to find their way around and give directions. I chose two sparsely populated settlements in South Africa, Ulco and Delportshoop, for the research because they have little or no written signage in their physical environments. </p>
<p>I asked residents to explain step by step how they would travel from their home to the local shop, and to mention examples of street names in their town. I wanted to know what resources they drew on to navigate space. The residents used a mixture of rural and urban spatial markers to produce oral route directions. They also invented oral street names.</p>
<p>Oral route directions have not received much attention in linguistic landscape studies. This neglected area merits more attention as finding one’s way in both rural and urban environments depends on more than written signage.</p>
<h2>Ulco and Delportshoop</h2>
<p>Ulco and Delportshoop are about 20km apart in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. Their stark socio-geographical differences yet interrelated nature make them intriguing research sites.</p>
<p>Ulco is a private town providing accommodation for workers of a limestone mine and cement factory. The population was <a href="https://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/384004">860</a> in 2011. While 55.58% reported Setswana as their first language, 35.81% cited Afrikaans. Ulco has only one officially-named street called Work Street, which is located at the entrance of the cement factory.</p>
<p>Delportshoop’s population was 10,346 in 2011. It is state-run and administratively governed by Dikgatlong Municipality. It has a government clinic, a police station, four public schools, a municipal office and some public transport (taxis). Delportshoop has visible street name poles in most of its residential areas. </p>
<p>What the towns have in common is inadequate or inconsistent written signage that could make it easier for people to find their way around. And the residents of both places mostly get around by walking.</p>
<p>Being sparsely populated qualifies a place as non-urban or <a href="https://www.ecsecc.org/documentrepository/informationcentre/rural-development-framework-document_72333.pdf">rural</a> in South Africa. But the results of my study question this perception.</p>
<h2>How residents give directions</h2>
<p>Central to my study was the idea of <a href="https://asset-pdf.scinapse.io/prod/2137284728/2137284728.pdf">semiotic resources</a>, defined as
“the actions and artefacts we use to communicate, whether they are produced physiologically or by means of technologies”. For example, speech is a semiotic resource that is produced physiologically while a GIF is technological. By considering all actions and artefacts as potential way-finding strategies, this study was not restricted to written signs. In so doing, it deviated from the main unit of analysis of traditional linguistic landscape research.</p>
<p>Residents gave me oral directions from their homes to their local shop. They showed that “rural” and “urban” spatial navigation practices are not so neatly separated. In rural and urban areas alike, people use landmarks to navigate space. The difference is the type of features that are perceived as landmarks. </p>
<p>In rural environments, residents draw on natural features such as big trees. The residents of these supposedly rural places used landmarks (road traffic signs, a school, a shop and a police station) and relative directions (mostly left and right), as people would in urban environments. They also frequently used the houses of notable people as landmarks. For example, as part of her oral directions, a resident stated that “from here, you walk straight until you get to Moleele’s corner” – Moleele is the surname of the family whose house is on that corner. </p>
<p>This suggests that successful way-finding in sparsely populated areas requires residents to depend on numerous semiotic resources because written signage is scarce. </p>
<p>To counter the absence of street names, residents in Ulco, particularly, invented street names. Streets were unofficially named after the purpose they served (for example, Main Road), features that once existed in the vicinity (for instance a clinic), or a popular resident. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nairobis-street-names-reveal-what-those-in-power-want-to-remember-or-forget-141378">Nairobi's street names reveal what those in power want to remember, or forget</a>
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<p>Because public transport systems are poor in these places, distance is mostly perceived in terms of walking – which is different from the understanding of distance in areas where people get around in vehicles.</p>
<p>One practice that stood out was the way they used the word “straight” to indicate both direction and distance. The re-purposing of the word “straight” was a novel finding; no way-finding study to date has found that “straight” can be a distance estimator. </p>
<p>Instead of saying, “not too far from here” or “a kilometre from there”, Ulco and Delportshoop residents drew on three pronunciations of “straight”: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>normal pronunciation (no emphasis) – this implies that the distance to travel is short</p></li>
<li><p>repeating the word (straight, straight) – fairly far</p></li>
<li><p>stressing the word (straaaighttt!) – extremely far.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The understanding of “straight” as a distance indicator suggests that in rural areas, way-finding is socially constructed. In other words, in sparsely populated areas, there are agreed-upon ways of finding your way that are common yet “unspoken”. Knowledge and use of these strategies are orally transferred. </p>
<p>Other studies have found similar systems in use in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021909613510246">“nondescript” places</a> in urban sub-Saharan Africa. </p>
<h2>Signs aren’t always written</h2>
<p>By focusing on oral instead of written signage, my study broadens the scope of what linguistic landscape scholars can consider as signage. Non-linguistic semiotic resources such as trees, bushes, and the houses of residents are signage.</p>
<p>The findings also show how the concepts of rural and urban are blurred as residents of both environments use similar ways of finding their way around. Orality continues to be central in way-finding, particularly in rural areas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185443/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorato Mokwena receives funding from National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa. </span></em></p>While many people rely on written signage to find their way around, oral language plays a significant role in giving directions in rural areas.Lorato Mokwena, Lecturer, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1815922022-04-21T04:01:28Z2022-04-21T04:01:28ZIsolation rules for close contacts are changing. What happens next?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458990/original/file-20220421-55253-oh016i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C41%2C914%2C612&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/coronavirus-prevention-measures-back-view-careful-1953915466">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Close contacts of people with COVID in New South Wales and Victoria will soon no longer need to isolate for seven days. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-20/qld-coronavirus-covid19-quarantine-rules-close-contacts-ease/100997188">Other states</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-20/act-to-lift-restrictions-covid-19-isolation-boost-for-business/101002280">territories</a>, including Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory, are considering or will likely announce similar moves.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-20/close-covid-19-close-contact-isolation-rules-lifted-nsw/101000980">NSW</a> from 6pm tomorrow and in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-20/victoria-expected-to-scrap-covid-19-rules-vaccine-milestone/101000694">Victoria</a> from just before midnight tomorrow, close contacts of COVID cases no longer need to isolate at home, so long as they test negative for COVID, and follow other rules designed to limit the spread of the virus.</p>
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<p>The move frees up close contacts to return to work outside the home, but carries a slightly increased risk of the virus spreading to the wider community. However, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/21/epidemiologists-split-over-easing-of-covid-restrictions-in-nsw-and-victoria">not everyone agrees</a> whether even this small risk is worth taking.</p>
<p>So what is the risk of a household contact catching COVID? And what else could we be doing to minimise the risk to the wider community after isolation rules are relaxed?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/many-places-are-starting-to-wind-back-covid-restrictions-but-this-doesnt-mean-the-pandemic-is-over-yet-180856">Many places are starting to wind back COVID restrictions, but this doesn't mean the pandemic is over yet</a>
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<h2>What’s changing?</h2>
<p>The upcoming changes in NSW and Victoria relate to the isolation requirements of <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-cabinet-statement-12">close contacts</a> only. People with COVID still need to isolate for seven days.</p>
<p>Details of what this means for close contacts <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/nsw-covid-update-april-2022">in NSW</a> or <a href="https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/checklist-contacts">Victoria differ slightly</a>. However, governments are sensibly asking close contacts to take a number of measures to reduce the risk of them infecting other people. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>working from home where possible</p></li>
<li><p>telling their employer they’re a close contact</p></li>
<li><p>wearing a mask indoors when they are outside the home</p></li>
<li><p>taking multiple rapid antigen tests over seven days</p></li>
<li><p>avoiding contact with immunocompromised and elderly people</p></li>
<li><p>avoiding vulnerable settings such as residential aged care services or hospitals</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These will reduce the already low risk of passing on the virus even further. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/time-to-remove-vaccine-mandates-not-so-fast-it-could-have-unintended-consequences-180781">Time to remove vaccine mandates? Not so fast – it could have unintended consequences</a>
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<h2>Why now?</h2>
<p>These changes come after much <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/scrap-close-contact-isolation-for-all-workers-business-union-make-call-20220414-p5adji.html">lobbying</a> from business groups and some unions who say their members are struggling with so many workers off with COVID, or from being a close contact of someone infected. </p>
<p>We’ve also seen <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/teachers-fight-easing-of-isolation-rules-for-close-contacts-20220117-p59oug.html">schools</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-14/sydney-airport-bracing-for-chaos-ahead-of-easter-long-weeken/100989598">airports</a> and other sectors struggling to find workers.</p>
<p>The changes also follow the loosening of isolation requirements for close contacts made in January for <a href="https://theconversation.com/latest-isolation-rules-for-critical-workers-gets-the-balance-right-but-thats-not-the-end-of-the-story-174884">several categories of essential workers</a>, such as emergency and childcare staff.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/latest-isolation-rules-for-critical-workers-gets-the-balance-right-but-thats-not-the-end-of-the-story-174884">Latest isolation rules for critical workers gets the balance right. But that's not the end of the story</a>
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<h2>So many of us are immune</h2>
<p>All <a href="https://covidlive.com.au/states-and-territories">states and territories</a> have now gone past the second Omicron peak, caused by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ba-2-is-like-omicrons-sister-heres-what-we-know-about-it-so-far-176137">BA.2 subvariant</a>. Western Australia never had the BA.1 wave because of its closed borders, and is <a href="https://twitter.com/profesterman/status/1516629052794478599?s=20&t=G-WpZ3ronVlT1LaPVGRMIQ">now</a> also coming off the peak of its BA.2 wave.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458992/original/file-20220421-25-ljr5g4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Omicron peaks in Australia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458992/original/file-20220421-25-ljr5g4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458992/original/file-20220421-25-ljr5g4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458992/original/file-20220421-25-ljr5g4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458992/original/file-20220421-25-ljr5g4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458992/original/file-20220421-25-ljr5g4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458992/original/file-20220421-25-ljr5g4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458992/original/file-20220421-25-ljr5g4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We’re over the latest Omicron peak.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.covid19data.com.au/compare-outbreaks">covid19data.com.au</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With about <a href="https://covidlive.com.au/states-and-territories">50,000</a> diagnosed cases a day, Australia is still in the grip of a massive outbreak, and the true number of daily cases is likely several times this. </p>
<p>This is because the percentage of asymptomatic infections is estimated at <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/pages/22_february_2022_-_variants_update.pdf">25-54%</a>, so many individuals wouldn’t think to get tested. Not everyone who feels unwell will get tested. And even if people test positive with a rapid antigen test, not everyone will report it to the authorities.</p>
<p>So, the majority of people in the community either have natural immunity from infection, vaccine-induced immunity, or both (hybrid immunity). It is timely, therefore, to ask whether isolation is still essential for close contacts.</p>
<h2>What is the actual risk at home?</h2>
<p>If you live in a household with someone infected, what is your risk of catching the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron, which is dominant in Australia?</p>
<p>Despite being highly contagious, there appears to be only a <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1050999/Technical-Briefing-35-28January2022.pdf">13% chance</a> you will get infected. So the risk is actually quite small. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ba-2-is-like-omicrons-sister-heres-what-we-know-about-it-so-far-176137">BA.2 is like Omicron's sister. Here's what we know about it so far</a>
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<h2>How about the risk to the wider community?</h2>
<p>At the moment, about <a href="https://www.covid19data.com.au/testing">20%</a> of PCR tests in Australia are positive on any single day, reflecting a massive amount of infection in the community, much of it undiagnosed. </p>
<p>However, because of the high degree of immunity in the population, and the relatively low contribution of the close contact rule changes to transmission risk, I don’t believe the changes will have a major impact on case numbers. The changes will also bring a big relief to business. </p>
<h2>What needs to happen next?</h2>
<p>For these changes to avoid driving up case numbers, we need to assume close contacts do the right thing – mask up, avoid contact with vulnerable people outside the home and regularly test themselves. Let’s hope this happens. </p>
<p>Finally, daily rapid antigen tests (under some circumstances) for close contacts will be expensive. Imagine a family of five where one person is infected. That is up to 28 rapid antigen tests for the four close contacts, at about A$10 per test.</p>
<p>At the moment, only <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/get-free-rapid-antigen-tests-rats-if-you-hold-concession-card">concession card</a> holders get a free limited supply of rapid antigen tests. So governments will seriously have to consider some sort of subsidy for close contacts, or better still, supply them for free.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181592/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Esterman receives funding from the NHMRC, the MRFF and the ARC. </span></em></p>The risk of a household contact becoming infected is low. So it’s time to lift isolation requirements, now so many of us are immune to the virus.Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1656942021-08-23T13:58:21Z2021-08-23T13:58:21ZWe could power households from the scraps in our food waste bins – here’s what is stopping us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416753/original/file-20210818-13-1v6610e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1920%2C1267&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The food waste households create could be turned into a source of sustainable energy.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/mediterranean-cuisine-eat-food-2378758/">Lukasbieri/Pixabay</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine if you could power your kettle using the energy generated from the vegetable cuttings quietly breaking down in your kitchen’s compost bin. That reality might not be so far off with the growth of biogas technology.</p>
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<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/we-could-power-households-from-the-scraps-in-our-food-waste-bins-heres-what-is-stopping-us-165694&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-biogasconverting-waste-to-energy">Biogas</a> is a green alternative to fossil fuels that not only helps to reduce toxic emissions but also provides cheap, clean energy. It’s made up of a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide and a little hydrogen sulphide and water vapour, all of which is produced by microbes that live on organic raw material within a airtight digester container.</p>
<p>The efficiency of the system depends on the size and insulation capability of the digester, as well as the quantity of methane produced from the “<a href="https://www.greenfacts.org/glossary/def/feedstock.htm">feedstock</a>”, which can be anything from carrot leaves and onion peels to residue from gardening. </p>
<p>Biogas is “green” because it reduces the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from decomposing food waste. Instead, these gases are stored and used for generating heat and electricity, making the energy produced from waste more sustainable. </p>
<p>Yet although biogas <a href="https://theconversation.com/biogas-smells-like-a-solution-to-our-energy-and-waste-problems-36136">has been promoted</a> as a way of helping to reduce carbon emissions for a few years now – and has actually been used to power households since as early as the <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/a-short-history-of-anaerobic-digestion#:%7E:text=Anecdotal%20evidence%20indicates%20that%20biogas,Persia%20during%20the%2016th%20century.&text=Jan%20Baptita%20Van%20Helmont%20first,evolve%20from%20decaying%20organic%20matter.">10th century BC</a> (for heating bath water in the Middle East) – it still only represented around <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/the-future-of-biogas-in-europe-its-a-local-affair/">0.004%</a> of total EU gas consumption in 2019. So why is uptake so low, and what can be done about it?</p>
<h2>Digesters in practice</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.biogasworld.com/news/future-small-scale-anaerobic-digestion/">Micro-digesters</a> (between two to ten cubic metres) can power individual household systems for up to 12 hours per day, while large digesters of 50 cubic metres can be linked to the local gas grid to support communities for up to 250 hours.</p>
<p>The diagram below shows how these systems usually work: the pipe at the top of the image would normally lead to a community gas tank or household appliance.</p>
<p><strong>How they work in practice</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A diagram illustrating a typical biogas system" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417411/original/file-20210823-15-encwam.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417411/original/file-20210823-15-encwam.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417411/original/file-20210823-15-encwam.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417411/original/file-20210823-15-encwam.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417411/original/file-20210823-15-encwam.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417411/original/file-20210823-15-encwam.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417411/original/file-20210823-15-encwam.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Biogas_Reactor_diagram.svg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An example of an innovative small-scale biogas system is the Methanogen micro-digester. There is one running at <a href="https://www.calthorpecommunitygarden.org.uk/">Calthorpe community garden</a>, a multi-functional urban community centre in Islington, London. The unit sits in a repurposed shed next to a vegetable garden. The energy, generated from food and garden waste from the surrounding houses, is supplied to the centre’s kitchen hob through a pipe.</p>
<p>The digester is run by community volunteers, whose mission is to improve the physical and emotional <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44097-3">well-being of residents</a> living in the centre’s surrounding areas by encouraging them to grow food and spend more time in nature.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415105/original/file-20210808-123368-1914gn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415105/original/file-20210808-123368-1914gn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415105/original/file-20210808-123368-1914gn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415105/original/file-20210808-123368-1914gn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415105/original/file-20210808-123368-1914gn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415105/original/file-20210808-123368-1914gn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415105/original/file-20210808-123368-1914gn2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A micro-digester at Calthorpe Community Garden in London.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">LEAP Project</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An even more ambitious initiative is running on the Swedish island of <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-dna-sheds-light-on-the-mysterious-origins-of-the-first-scandinavians-89703">Gotland</a>, where an eco-village, <a href="https://www.suderbyn.se/">Suderbyn</a>, has been created using zero-carbon materials. A community-run digester was set up to create heat using food and agricultural waste from the community. Inspired by Suderbyn’s success, similar sites have been launched in the UK at <a href="https://www.hockertonhousingproject.org.uk/visit/sustainable-living-tours/">Hockerton</a>, near Nottingham, and in <a href="http://humberston-ecc.org/renewable-energy">Grimsby</a>. </p>
<h2>The uptake problem</h2>
<p>But why are more digesters not springing up? Our research set out to understand the challenges responsible for the slow uptake of this technology. </p>
<p>To better understand people’s attitudes towards biogas, we carried out <a href="https://isabel-project.eu/">a study</a> of community biogas generation in Europe. Our research, conducted through interviews and consultation workshops, found that one of the barriers stopping biogas use was prejudice arising from poor public understanding of the technology and its benefits. </p>
<p>People we spoke to were concerned that local digesters would produce a nasty smell, or that their industrial appearance would blight the landscape. In fact, many digesters are fairly small, and would only produce smells if the system broke down.</p>
<p>Other stumbling blocks include a lack of <a href="http://www.jseejournal.com/media/171/attachment/Potential,%20Barriers%20and%20Prospects%20pp.21-27.pdf">technical expertise</a> in building or maintaining digesters, a lack of incentives to attract local businesses, and the high cost of the digester, which – depending on its size – can cost between £12,000 and £158,000.</p>
<p>Because of this, local government assistance will be crucial in bringing biogas to the masses. They should help shoulder the financial cost or provide seed money to groups interested in setting up biogas systems. Councils will also need to facilitate the collection, handling, transport and storage of food and garden waste, which usually takes place weekly; and deal with hurdles such as arranging planning permission for larger digesters.</p>
<p>Community engagement with projects like this is also vital. Biogas initiatives, especially larger ones, can only become a success when there is trust and cooperation between the community members who would be running the system and sharing in its spoils. Both a motivated community and supportive local policies are necessary ingredients for a biogas project to flourish.</p>
<p>Using biogas to generate renewable energy has the potential to significantly speed up <a href="https://www.drax.com/carbon-capture/what-is-decarbonisation/">decarbonisation</a> – reducing a country’s carbon output – by helping to make the energy supply chain more sustainable in the long run. But without government support, the future of biogas remains uncertain.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165694/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research on which this article is based received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 691752.
Prof. Craig Smith and Dr. Matina Rassia (INSEAD) contributed to this article. </span></em></p>Biogas is often overlooked as a source of renewable energy, but it could be a solution to dealing with the 9.5 million tonnes of food waste created by the UK every year.Ananya Mukherjee, Research Associate in Sociology, University of SurreyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1579422021-04-14T14:20:21Z2021-04-14T14:20:21ZRenovating your home could ruin your relationship … but it doesn’t have to<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394576/original/file-20210412-15-2jwabb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4918%2C3038&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As we head into spring and summer, the most popular seasons for home improvement, it's important for couples to set ground rules before breaking ground.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-home-renovations-1.5856136">Canadians have turned to home renovations</a> to find space — both literally and metaphorically — after a year of working, learning, exercising and doing just about everything else from home. As we head into spring and summer, the most popular seasons for home improvement, it’s important for couples to set ground rules before breaking ground.</p>
<p>While more living space, a dedicated home office or upgraded kitchen might ease the strain the pandemic has put on homes and families, the renovation process, which <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/life-after-50/201811/renovation-and-couples-conflict">tests relationships at the best of times</a>, could put more stress on partnerships already cracking under the weight of the past year.</p>
<p>Contractors and architects say the recent surge in renovation work has them fielding up to five times as many calls per day than they were pre-pandemic. And according to a recent <a href="https://abacusdata.ca/home-renovations-covid-19/">Abacus Data survey</a>, 44 per cent of Canadian households have done or are planning to do renovations this year. Most say they are doing the work so they can feel more relaxed in their homes.</p>
<p>At the same time, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/couples-counselling-covid19-1.5557110">phones are also ringing at couples counselling and family law offices</a> as more seek professional help to either preserve or dissolve their relationships.</p>
<p>“Couples are experiencing a whole variety of stresses — childcare, household management, personal challenges, strains in the relationship — and the temperature has gone up during the pandemic,” says <a href="https://tribecatherapy.com">New York City therapist Matt Lundquist</a>. He believes that while the stresses of the pandemic may not be the cause of marriage problems, they are revealing cracks that were already there. </p>
<h2>Relationship cracks on full display</h2>
<p>Renovations can widen relationship cracks as couples find themselves navigating financial stresses, extended disruptions and making thousands of decisions — from how much they can afford to spend to lower a basement to selecting drawer pulls for new kitchen cabinets. </p>
<p>The process can amplify conflicting approaches to <a href="https://doi.org/10.9790/1684-1305064448">decision-making, unhealthy communication habits and latent tensions in relationships</a>.</p>
<p>These strains are on display on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/relationship_advice/">Reddit’s r/relationship_advice</a> where desperate users seek advice for resolving renovation conflicts with their partners.</p>
<p>From “I’m an <a href="https://www.16personalities.com/intp-personality">INTP</a>, he’s an <a href="https://www.16personalities.com/entj-personality">ENTJ</a>, we’re renovating and fighting so badly I fear our relationship will never recover” to “renovation taking way longer than expected, BF taking it personally when I try to speed the process along. We’re at a breaking point” and “renovation frustration with me (29f) and him (31m) — is this understandable or abuse?”</p>
<p>Gloria Apostolu, principal architect at <a href="https://www.postarchitecture.com/">Post Architecture</a> in Toronto, pauses for a moment when asked how couples handle the demands of making so many decisions during a renovation. “Every client has their Achilles heel,” she says. “And it’s never where or what I expected.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Before and after of a home renovation." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394578/original/file-20210412-15-e54mhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394578/original/file-20210412-15-e54mhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394578/original/file-20210412-15-e54mhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394578/original/file-20210412-15-e54mhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394578/original/file-20210412-15-e54mhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394578/original/file-20210412-15-e54mhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394578/original/file-20210412-15-e54mhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Home renovations are on the rise during the pandemic, but so are their repercussions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Different breaking points</h2>
<p>Some of Apostolu’s clients can’t make sense of tiles. Others balk at the price of a front door or are overwhelmed by having to settle on a faucet type for the main-floor powder room all before the contractor even arrives to tear the place apart. </p>
<p>Making high-stakes decisions as a couple, Lundquist explains, requires advanced skills, such as weighing pros and cons, gauging the level of acceptable risk and being decisive under pressure, or “pulling the trigger” in contractor parlance. It also requires what he calls relationality — listening and curiosity, taking turns, empathy and working to understand your partner’s point of view, even if you don’t see its logic or agree with it.</p>
<p>“It tremendously taxes our skills not to react when our partner says something we disagree with, or isn’t what we expected,” says Lundquist. What really feeds a relationship, he adds, is trying to be curious about where your partner is coming from and resisting the temptation to shut them down or make a counter-argument before fully understanding their point of view.</p>
<p>On the other hand, he often encounters partners who, in trying to keep the peace, are <a href="https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/mental-health/let-go-resentment">not assertive enough about what they want, which can lead to lingering dissatisfaction and resentment</a>. </p>
<p>The last thing a relationship needs, Lundquist jokes, is a big, expensive, fixed piece of resentment that a couple is forced to stare at as they sit next to each other on the couch every evening. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Family of three doing a renovation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394579/original/file-20210412-19-1wijd6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394579/original/file-20210412-19-1wijd6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394579/original/file-20210412-19-1wijd6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394579/original/file-20210412-19-1wijd6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394579/original/file-20210412-19-1wijd6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394579/original/file-20210412-19-1wijd6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394579/original/file-20210412-19-1wijd6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Devising a system for resolving conflicts before you even start is the best approach to a conflict-free renovation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Honesty and a smooth renovation</h2>
<p>Apostolou echoes the need for openness as a foundation for a smooth renovation. </p>
<p>She suggests devising a system at the start for resolving the inevitable conflicts that will arise. This could mean taking turns, or giving veto rights to the person who is most dedicated to that part of the home. For example, the person who does most of the cooking gets the final say on kitchen details. </p>
<p>She advises it is most important to work it all out in drawings before you get started. “Don’t rush the design process. You don’t want to be making decisions that are more costly than they would have been if they were planned out in advance.” </p>
<p>Apostolu’s no-surprises approach has garnered <a href="https://www.houzz.com/professionals/architects-and-building-designers/post-architecture-inc-pfvwus-pf%7E847407266">effusive five-star reviews</a> from clients on home design and improvement website Houzz.</p>
<p>One is from Stephanie Nickson, a financial services consultant, and her partner David Raniga, who now runs his massage therapy practice in the light-filled basement of their recently renovated home in Toronto’s Wychwood neighbourhood. </p>
<p>Raniga jokes that the hardest part of the process was dealing with his wife’s inability to make decisions. But because they remained open to each other’s needs throughout the process and stuck with the vision and budget they set at the beginning, they say they actually miss the process now that it is over. And they are almost giddy with the result. </p>
<p>“I literally say I love this house every day. We were so lucky,” Nickson says.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157942/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Waugh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An architect and a therapist share tips for improving your home without sacrificing your relationship.Emily Waugh, Dalla Lana Fellow, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1559002021-03-24T14:45:37Z2021-03-24T14:45:37ZCOVID-19: a new challenge for clean cooking progress in Kenya<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388472/original/file-20210309-13-j8hscv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cooking on solid fuels exposes people to toxic pollutants.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/africa-energy-outlook-2019">Over 90%</a> of the <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/goal-11/">238 million people</a> living in sub-Saharan Africa’s informal settlements, rely upon solid fuels for cooking, heating, and lighting their homes. These fuels include wood, charcoal, dung and straw. They’re typically gathered or traded locally and burned on open fires, generating toxic pollutants. </p>
<p>The most harmful of these pollutants is known as fine Particulate Matter or PM2.5. When inhaled, these particles are so tiny that they can penetrate deep into the lungs, causing damage to the blood vessels and increasing the risk of heart and lung diseases. Indoor levels of pollution generated in biomass fuel homes – which are typically poorly ventilated – <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00207233.2020.1732067">frequently exceed World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines</a> and are hazardous to human health. </p>
<p>Typically, as the income of a household rises, <a href="https://journals.assaf.org.za/index.php/jesa/article/view/3310">occupants transition</a> towards cleaner domestic energy alternatives – such as liquid petroleum gas or electricity. In the process of moving along the “energy ladder” households may use “transition” fuels, such as charcoal or kerosene. These are more efficient than raw biomass fuels, thereby reducing meal preparation times. </p>
<p>However, supplies of liquid petroleum gas and electricity in sub-Saharan Africa are often <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3154221/">vulnerable to commodity shocks</a> caused by economic, social, or political instability. </p>
<p>For instance, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/africa/covid-19">COVID-19 pandemic</a> disrupted global energy markets and supply chains due to early collapse in global oil demand. This resulted in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/oet.12773">volatile petroleum prices</a> and the price fluctuation presents <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/africa-energy-outlook-2019">major challenges to those in resource poor settings</a>. </p>
<p>We have studied how these changes affect low-income households in Kenya. We are part of a <a href="https://www.asap.uk.com/daq-east-africa">joint collaborative effort</a> – by the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a> and the <a href="https://www.popcouncil.org/">Population Council</a>, a research organisation dedicated to critical health and development issues – exploring how social, behavioural, economic and environmental factors affect household air pollution exposure. </p>
<p>In 2020 the <a href="https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/VO7SUO">Population Council launched</a> a large research project with the aim of documenting the experiences of people living in low-income settlements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of this included data collection on fuel use and whether people were switching cooking fuels. </p>
<p>Using these data, we found that during the pandemic, access to cleaner household fuels has become variable and disrupted.</p>
<p>In recent years there has been a significant increase in the use of liquid petroleum gas in Kenya. While nationally levels are lower, with only 5.6% of rural areas using liquid petroleum gas, in urban areas <a href="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3.sourceafrica.net/documents/119795/VOLUME-IV-KPHC-2019.pdf">52.9% of households use it</a>. Kenya has set a <a href="http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/955741536097520493/pdf/129734-BRI-PUBLIC-VC-LW89-OKR.pdf">national target of 35% clean energy by 2030</a> but may fall short of this goal. </p>
<p>Our findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic risks reversing progress made to increase access to affordable, reliable and sustainable domestic energy sources in Kenya. Risks are greatest among those that live in informal settlements. This further increases health inequities as the poorest households have the highest risk of household air pollution exposure. </p>
<p>This could also signal a wider trend happening in other sub-Saharan African countries. </p>
<h2>Surveying informal settlements</h2>
<p>The project surveyed 1,750 households across five Nairobi informal settlements; Kibera, Mathare, Dandora, Kariobangi, and Huruma. Household air pollution is a <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health">major health concern</a> in these settings. </p>
<p>In mid 2019, prior to COVID-19, our survey respondents were using kerosene (58%), charcoal/biomass/wood (24%) or liquid petroleum gas/ electricity (18%). In 2020, the proportion using liquid petroleum gas or electricity increased to 29%. This highlights an improvement overall, driven by advances in availability and affordability of cleaner fuels. However, additional survey questions in the 2020 suggests a more complex picture. </p>
<p>In the survey, residents were asked how their cooking practices and household behaviours had changed. Most households (56%) reported that fuel was more expensive or more difficult to obtain since the pandemic. Of those who said fuel was now more expensive, almost half (46%) were using liquid petroleum gas or electricity. This suggests that access to clean fuels was difficult due to price changes or household income loss. </p>
<p>About 19% said fuel was actually cheaper to get now. Of these, 97% were using kerosene – potentially reflecting the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2020/article/from-the-barrel-to-the-pump.htm#:%7E:text=The%20production%20boom%20coincided%20with,to%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.&text=Producer%20prices%20for%20crude%20petroleum%20declined%2034.0%20percent,and%2048.8%20percent%20in%20April">rapid drop in global petroleum prices</a> – and about 25% said the price was the same as usual (66% kerosene users). This suggests that COVID-19 may be increasing availability and decreasing the cost of kerosene, while increasing the cost of liquid petroleum gas.</p>
<p>Of particular concern is our finding that 69% of liquid petroleum gas or electricity users before the COVID-19 pandemic reported a subsequent switch to kerosene. This reflects the fragility of fuel transitions: shocks often influence, at least over the short-term, household choices. This is worrying as prior to COVID-19 <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a6b5aad12abd97ed4679071/t/5e56a8f3672e8272382f76ff/1582737656154/ASAP+-+East+Africa+-+Vulnerability+Scoping+Study+-+Low+Income+Households+in+Kampala.pdf">a study found kerosene using households had PM2.5 levels almost equal to those in charcoal or wood-using households</a>. </p>
<p>Looking at the data, we believe that people were making the switch because of economic hardship. Overall 43% of survey respondents had lost their jobs or sources of livelihood. And 71% reported their household expenses had increased despite these economic losses. Also kerosene prices were decreasing at the time. </p>
<p>Participants also reported they had changed cooking behaviours, with a third (34%) spending more time preparing meals. Twice as many were women (40%) compared to men (24%). These patterns may be due to disproportionate loss of employment experienced by women, who were more likely to take up additional domestic duties or caring responsibilities. </p>
<p>Switching back to more polluting cooking fuels (mainly kerosene) – combined with spending more time undertaking indoor domestic duties – will increase overall exposure to hazardous levels of household air pollution among those living in Nairobi’s already vulnerable informal settlements.</p>
<p>This combination of social, behavioural, economic and environmental factors has major implications for household air pollution exposure. And it’s an existing area of research for the <a href="https://www.asap.uk.com/daq-east-africa">Digital Air Quality – East Africa</a> research programme, of which we are co-investigators. </p>
<h2>Supporting clean cooking</h2>
<p>It’s widely recognised that national governments should support a permanent switch to liquid petroleum gas or electricity cooking, to <a href="https://www.who.int/airpollution/household/chest/en/">reduce exposure to household air pollution</a>. The Kenyan government has been promoting greater use of liquid petroleum gas primarily by <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/8737_vol3.pdf">fiscal measures</a>. These includ a zero tax rating for liquid petroleum gas, a value added tax (VAT) exemption for clean and efficient cookstoves and disincentivising the use of kerosene as a cooking fuel by raising excise duty and therefore retail prices. </p>
<p>However, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of such programmes to volatile energy markets. It’s evident that access to clean energy supplies alone is inadequate. Additional measures are needed to fully implement clean cooking practices. </p>
<p>There needs to be more focus on how disruptive shocks influence household fuel use and the need for cost-effective interventions that discourage short-term use of heavily polluting fuels.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155900/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzanne Bartington receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council, National Institute for Health Research and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. She is an elected member of Oxfordshire County Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessie Pinchoff receives funding from the ASAP-East Africa project as one of the researchers on the consortium.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Robert Avis receives funding from the UK Government's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and a number of research councils (including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC).</span></em></p>The COVID-19 pandemic risks reversing progress made to increase access to affordable, reliable and sustainable domestic energy sources in Kenya.Suzanne Bartington, Clinical Research Fellow in Environmental Health, University of BirminghamJessie Pinchoff, Associate researcher, Population CouncilWilliam Robert Avis, Research Fellow, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1362632020-04-20T14:07:40Z2020-04-20T14:07:40ZThe five criteria low income countries must have in place for lockdowns to work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328391/original/file-20200416-192749-1w79ebs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Mozambique's urban settlements a lockdown might be feasible for a short period of time.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the COVID-19 virus has spread across the globe, developing countries are starting to enact many of the same policies used in China, Europe and North America to contain the virus. But are these policies appropriate in low income contexts? To help think about this we propose a simple index of lockdown readiness which identifies the share of households that could feasibly shelter at home for a prolonged period of time.</p>
<p>Using Mozambique as a case study, our <a href="https://www.wider.unu.edu/publication/mozambique-prepared-lockdown-during-covid-19-pandemic">lockdown readiness index</a> suggests a need for more inventive adaptation of public health policies, not blind adoption from elsewhere.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/countries-on-lockdown-coronavirus-italy-2020-3#russia-will-have-a-paid-stay-at-home-holiday-next-week-and-restaurants-bars-and-parks-in-moscow-are-closed-1">Many countries</a> have introduced lockdown measures, including home isolation, as a response to the global pandemic. Such policies were originally adopted by China and, over the past months, have been replicated by governments in the global North. </p>
<p>The aim of home isolation is to maintain a maximum of social distancing to reduce contacts with non-family members to an absolute minimum. But this assumes families actually can stay isolated with relative ease. In the global North, for example, an underlying assumption is that many people can work remotely via the internet and phone.</p>
<p>But what are the conditions that make it feasible to shelter at home? </p>
<p>Applying the index to Mozambique our main takeaway is that a strict or full lockdown would be very difficult for a large share of households in Mozambique, including those in urban areas. It is not only that household conditions are often unsuited to a lockdown. Many people simply could not afford to stay at home. </p>
<p>Without a broad-based safety net in place, which could temporarily substitute for lost income opportunities or put enough food on the table, a strict lockdown could quickly degenerate into social unrest.</p>
<h2>Assumptions of lockdown</h2>
<p>To make things simple, we consider the following five minimum criteria for a lockdown (often available in household surveys or census data): </p>
<ul>
<li><p>access to safe drinking water in the home;</p></li>
<li><p>adequate sanitation in the home; </p></li>
<li><p>a source of reliable energy; </p></li>
<li><p>access to information or communications technology; and </p></li>
<li><p>having a permanent source of income or savings. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>If the first three criteria are not met, then almost all household members will need to make multiple daily trips outside the home to places where other people congregate. These include communal taps or ablution facilities. </p>
<p>But even if these basic household conditions are in place, this does not put food on the table. Families living from hand to mouth would still struggle to stay in lockdown. And as noted in <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/covid-19-extending-lockdown-could-exhaust-social-tolerance-fuel-civil-unrest-crime-46370299">other contexts</a>, disobedience or social unrest can quickly follow if a lockdown drives people into despair.</p>
<p>As the decision to put an entire country or region in lockdown carries not only large economic costs but also social risks, policy makers need to consider whether such a policy is feasible. One way of doing so is through a lockdown readiness index. Using the above criteria, we constructed one for Mozambique. </p>
<h2>Readiness reflects inequality</h2>
<p>Based on the 10% sample of Mozambique’s 2017 housing and population census we consider the following five variables. Three are the same as in the first list – access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and electricity in the household. The other two we adapted to: having a phone in the household; and someone in the household having regular (formal) employment.</p>
<p>We define a household as “fully ready” if all five conditions are met and as “partially ready” if the first three of the five conditions are met – that is, they have the basic services to remain at home. The results are presented in the table below.</p>
<p>Table 1: Access to resources for lockdown readiness</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327626/original/file-20200414-117567-tzs9jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327626/original/file-20200414-117567-tzs9jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327626/original/file-20200414-117567-tzs9jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327626/original/file-20200414-117567-tzs9jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327626/original/file-20200414-117567-tzs9jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327626/original/file-20200414-117567-tzs9jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327626/original/file-20200414-117567-tzs9jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to our index, it would only be immediately feasible to lock down around 6% of all Mozambican households, corresponding to 16% of Mozambique’s urban households and just 1% of rural ones. </p>
<p>Overall, 13% of households would be partially ready, meaning they have access to basic services but probably not sufficient income or savings. In urban settlements, only a third of households (33%) are ready in terms of basic services. So, for them, a lockdown might be feasible for a short period of time but some additional social safety provisions would need to be enacted, such as cash or food transfers.</p>
<p>Looking across different regions of the country, the degree of readiness reflects levels of inequality found also in <a href="https://www.wider.unu.edu/publication/mapping-deprivation-mozambique">national poverty assessments</a>. In the northern regions less than half the households show even partial readiness for a lockdown, while the south is the least deprived and thus most “ready” region. Yet, even in the capital city, Maputo, located in the south, less than 40% of the households are fully ready for a lockdown.</p>
<h2>What are the alternatives</h2>
<p>Rather than blindly replicating policies from higher income contexts, we recommend practical alternatives to a complete or general household lockdown. </p>
<p>While this must be designed locally, ideally with community engagement, part of such a package must involve extensive testing and tracking to identify virus hotspots, as in <a href="https://theaseanpost.com/article/vietnams-exemplary-response-covid-19">Vietnam</a>, as well as extensive prevention measures. And even if a lighter form of lockdown must be enforced, large-scale social protection programmes (such as cash transfers) and basic service expansion (such as mobile drinking water stations) would be required to avoid an even greater catastrophe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136263/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When restricting the movement of their citizens to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, low income countries should tailor measures to local socio-economic circumstances.Sam Jones, Research Fellow, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations UniversityEva-Maria Egger, Research Fellow, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations UniversityRicardo Santos, Research Fellow, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1199682019-09-10T13:10:02Z2019-09-10T13:10:02Z5 charts show how your household drives up global greenhouse gas emissions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287726/original/file-20190812-71932-1l2swgx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Transportation and food are two major contributors to household emissions.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-mother-baby-boy-front-supermarket-739697995?src=hjEsTDPCR42t0m-EqG3EPw-1-2">Halfpoint/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the public conversation about climate change gets increasingly serious, many Americans may be wondering: How do my individual choices affect climate change?</p>
<p>Household consumption – food, housing, transportation, apparel and other personal services – is an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Everything you eat or wear, or every time you drive, you add to the global total emissions. The typical American’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/datablog/2009/sep/02/carbon-emissions-per-person-capita">annual per capita carbon footprint</a> is over five times the world per capita average. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.105137">A study</a> by our <a href="http://www.mingxugroup.org">research team</a>, including <a href="http://css.umich.edu/person/kaihui-song">Kaihui Song</a>, <a href="http://css.umich.edu/person/shen-qu">Shen Qu</a> and <a href="http://css.umich.edu/person/sai-liang">Sai Liang</a>, published on September 10, sheds light on the global carbon footprint of U.S. households.
</p>
<h2>1. Some activities have a bigger impact</h2>
<p>We looked at data from 1995 to 2014 from the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/cex/">U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey</a>, as well as the <a href="http://www.wiod.org/">World Input-Output Database</a>. We looked at the total global warming potential of all greenhouse gas emissions, not just carbon dioxide, as measured in their “carbon dioxide equivalent.”</p>
<p>We found that over 20% of all U.S. emissions are directly attributed to household consumption. If you consider indirect emissions, this figure is closer to 80%. </p>
<p>Let’s zoom in on the latest available annual numbers, mostly from 2009, which give a better sense of these staggering impacts.</p>
<p>U.S. households generate 5.43 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions every year. About 82.3% of those emissions are produced domestically.</p>
<p>The remaining emissions are generated outside the U.S. These emissions come from global supply chains. For instance, the family car might have been manufactured abroad. So emissions from manufacturing of the car are created outside the U.S., but the emissions from tailpipe are domestic.</p>
<p><iframe id="8yf3O" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8yf3O/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Transportation and housing contribute over 60% to the total domestic carbon footprint of U.S. households. Supply chain emissions from services – such as health care, banking and lodging – and food contribute the next largest amounts.</p>
<p>Food, furnishing and supplies, and clothing are the three largest drivers of overseas emissions from U.S. households.</p>
<h2>2. China bears the brunt of overseas emissions</h2>
<p>The overseas carbon footprint driven by the U.S. households is distributed disproportionately among countries. </p>
<p>The most considerable portion of overseas carbon footprint of U.S. households is actually released in China, followed by Canada, India, Russia and Mexico.</p>
<p>The overseas carbon footprint from Mexico is largely driven by food consumption in the U.S., while fuel consumption in the U.S. was the main driver for overseas carbon footprint from Canada and Russia, <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=727&t=6">where the U.S. gets the majority of its imported oil products and natural gas</a> in that period.</p>
<p>While the most substantial amount of the U.S.’s overseas carbon footprint is from China, it is only 3.0% of China’s domestic emissions. The majority of China’s emissions comes from the activity of its inhabitants, as well as consumption in other countries beyond the U.S. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Canada, Mexico and Taiwan trace a sizeable proportion of their domestic emissions to U.S. household consumption. </p>
<p><iframe id="KCZGq" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/KCZGq/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>3. Wealthier families have a larger footprint</h2>
<p>A household’s carbon footprint generally increases with its income, ranging from 19.3 to 91.5 tons of CO2-equivalent annually. </p>
<p>The average carbon footprint of the wealthiest households is over five times that of the poorest.</p>
<p>In 2009, households with less than US$30,000 annual disposable income made up 25.7% of the total U.S. population, but were only responsible for 19.3% of U.S. households’ carbon footprint. </p>
<p>On the other hand, wealthy consumers with more than $100,000 annual household income accounted for 22.3% of the total population but were responsible for nearly one-third of households’ total carbon footprint. </p>
<p><iframe id="NnZml" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/NnZml/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>4. The Great Recession caused a dip</h2>
<p>U.S. households’ carbon footprint had been steadily growing from 1995 until 2005, when it began to plateau. </p>
<p>In 2009, the combined domestic and overseas footprint dropped by 8.5% from the previous year, mainly due to the Great Recession.</p>
<p>The share of overseas carbon footprint in total carbon footprint of the U.S. household consumption had been rising steadily and peaked at around 20% in 2006. After 2006, the share of overseas carbon footprint started to decrease, as imports slowed down before the recession. </p>
<p><iframe id="q2OS7" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/q2OS7/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>5. Transportation makes the biggest difference</h2>
<p>The variations of household carbon footprint from 1995 to 2014 were largely driven in transportation use, including emissions from vehicle manufacturing, fuel and public transportation. </p>
<p>Transportation emissions, both per capita and per household, have continued to rise over time. This is despite significantly reduced tailpipe emissions from vehicles and nearly <a href="https://www.epa.gov/automotive-trends">30% improvement in fuel economy</a> of cars in this period. Mandates and standards, such as <a href="https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/regulations-greenhouse-gas-emissions-passenger-cars-and">Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)</a> at the federal level and <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/zero-emission-vehicle-program/about">Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV)</a> at the state level, enabled this rapid progress. </p>
<p>So what’s causing the emissions to keep rising? People <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/tables/vmt/vmt_forecast_sum.pdf">want to travel more</a> and <a href="https://nhts.ornl.gov/assets/2017_nhts_summary_travel_trends.pdf">are more likely to own more household vehicles</a>. Meanwhile, vehicles <a href="https://nhts.ornl.gov/assets/2017_nhts_summary_travel_trends.pdf">have a lower average number of occupants</a>. <a href="https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=809361">Mass transit</a> and active modes of transportation, like bike riding, are growing slowly.</p>
<p>In 2016, for the first time in history, the emissions from the U.S. <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=29612">transportation sector surpassed the power sector emissions</a>. This fact along with our observation from household carbon footprint from transportation underscore the importance of policy efforts related to emissions from the transportation sector. </p>
<p><iframe id="HDtXi" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/HDtXi/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119968/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ming Xu receives funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and DiDi Chuxing. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Morteza Taiebat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The typical American’s annual household carbon footprint is over five times the world per capita average.Morteza Taiebat, Ph.D. Candidate in Environment and Sustainability, University of MichiganMing Xu, Associate Professor at School for Environment and Sustainability, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1113982019-03-13T13:51:40Z2019-03-13T13:51:40ZUgly veg: supermarkets aren’t the biggest food wasters – you are<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263609/original/file-20190313-123519-1363fby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C6048%2C4010&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fresh-food-garbage-can-illustrate-waste-344303621">Speedkingz/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/19/fruit-vegetables-wasted-ugly-report">“Ugly” or “wonky” veg</a> were blamed for up to 40% of wasted fruit and vegetables in 2013, as produce was discarded for failing to meet retailer appearance standards. About 1.3 billion tonnes of food is <a href="http://www.fao.org/save-food/resources/keyfindings/en/">wasted worldwide every year</a> and, of this, fruit and vegetables have the highest wastage rates of any food type. But just how much of that is due to “ugly veg” being tossed by farms and supermarkets? The biggest culprit for food waste may be closer to home than we’d like to admit.</p>
<p>“Ugliness” is just <a href="https://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/publications/food-waste-within-global-food-systems.pdf">one reason among many</a> for why food is wasted at some point from farm to fork – there’s also overproduction, improper storage and disease. But the problem of “wonky veg” caught the public’s attention.</p>
<p>A report published in 2017 suggested that sales of “wonky veg” have <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmenvfru/429/429.pdf">risen in recent years</a> as retailers have acknowledged the problem with wasting edible food, but it’s estimated that up to 25% of apples, 20% of onions and 13% of potatoes grown in the UK are still wasted on cosmetic grounds.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263611/original/file-20190313-123548-xcrway.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263611/original/file-20190313-123548-xcrway.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263611/original/file-20190313-123548-xcrway.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263611/original/file-20190313-123548-xcrway.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263611/original/file-20190313-123548-xcrway.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263611/original/file-20190313-123548-xcrway.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263611/original/file-20190313-123548-xcrway.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Wonky’ carrots – still just as good as prettier produce.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/trendy-ugly-organic-carrot-home-garden-418145557">Amophoto_au/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Morrisons reported that consumers had begun to buy more misshapen food, whereas Sainsbury’s and Tesco both report including “wonky veg” in their recipe boxes, juices, smoothies and soups.</p>
<p>Not all ugly veg is wasted at the retail point of the supply chain however. WRAP, a charity who have been working with governments on food waste since 2000, have investigated food waste on farms and <a href="http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Food_waste_in_primary_production_report.pdf">their initial findings</a> suggest a major cause of fruit waste is due to produce failing aesthetic standards. For example, strawberries are often discarded if they’re the wrong size for supermarkets.</p>
<p>The National Farmers Union also <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-committees/eu-sub-com-d/food-waste-prevention/154.pdf">reported in 2014</a> that around 20% of Gala apples were being wasted prior to leaving the farm gate as they weren’t at least 50% red in colour.</p>
<h2>Home is where the waste is</h2>
<p>Attitudes seem to be changing on “ugly veg” at least. Morissons ran a campaign to promote its <a href="https://my.morrisons.com/wonky-fruit-veg/">“ugly veg” produce aisle</a>, and other supermarkets are stocking similar items. Despite this, household waste <a href="http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Courtauld%2520Commitment%25202025%2520-%2520baseline%2520report%2520for%25202015.pdf">remains the biggest culprit</a> for food waste in the UK. Just under 5m tonnes of food wasted in the UK occurs in households – a staggering 70% of all post-farm gate food waste.</p>
<p>A further million tonnes is wasted in the hospitality sector, with the latest government report blaming overly generous portion sizes. This suggests that perhaps – despite the best effort of campaigns such as <a href="https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/">Love Food Hate Waste</a> – farms and retailers have been unfairly targeted by the “wonky veg” campaigns at the expense of focusing on where food waste really hits home. The <a href="https://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/publications/food-waste-within-global-food-systems.pdf">2013 Global Food Security Report</a> put the figure for household and hospitality waste at 50% of total UK food waste.</p>
<p>There are some signs we’re getting better at least. <a href="http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Food-Surplus-and-Waste-UK-Key-Facts-23-11-18.pdf">WRAP’s 2015 research</a> showed that, at the household level, people now waste 1m tonnes of food per year less than they did in 2007. This is a staggering £3.4 billion per year saved simply by throwing less edible produce away.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263622/original/file-20190313-123519-124gv67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263622/original/file-20190313-123519-124gv67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263622/original/file-20190313-123519-124gv67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263622/original/file-20190313-123519-124gv67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263622/original/file-20190313-123519-124gv67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263622/original/file-20190313-123519-124gv67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263622/original/file-20190313-123519-124gv67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Could growing more food at home help cut household food waste?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-girl-pulling-onions-on-allotment-408647020">Air Images/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>As climate change and its influence on extreme weather intensifies, reducing waste from precious food harvests will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/30/extreme-weather-could-push-uk-food-prices-up-this-year-say-farmers">only become more important</a>. Knowing exactly where the majority of waste occurs, rather than focusing too much on “wonky veg” in farms and supermarkets, is an important step towards making sure everyone has enough affordable and nutritious food to live on.</p>
<p>During the UK’s “Dig for Victory” campaign in World War II, a large proportion of the population had to grow their own fruit and vegetables. Now the majority of people live in cities and towns – typically detached from primary food production. In the UK, the <a href="https://myharvest.org.uk/">MYHarvest project</a> has started to uncover how much “own-growing” contributes to the national diet and it seems demand for land to grow-your-own is increasing. </p>
<p>Research in Italy and Germany found that people who grow their own food <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/3/2695">waste the least</a>. One way to fight food waste at home then – whether for “wonky” fruit and vegetables or otherwise – may be to replace the farm-to-fork supply chain with a garden-to-plate approach.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111398/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miriam C. Dobson receives funding from The University of Sheffield Department of Animal and Plant Sciences for her PhD research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jill L. Edmondson receives funding from the EPSRC Living With Environmental Change Fellowship Grant EP/N030095/1.</span></em></p>Supermarkets and farms have acted to ensure they discard fewer “ugly” and “wonky” fruit and vegetables. However, the bulk of the problem lies with households.Miriam C. Dobson, PhD Researcher in Urban Agriculture, University of SheffieldJill Edmondson, EPSRC Living with Environmental Change Research Fellow, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1045232018-11-07T11:36:16Z2018-11-07T11:36:16ZWhat’s behind the dramatic rise in 3-generation households?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244152/original/file-20181106-74751-1p78jr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In 2016, nearly 10 percent of American kids were living in three-generation households, like this one in Detroit, Michigan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-Michigan-United-/50aee7228de4da11af9f0014c2589dfb/174/0">AP Photo/Paul Sancya</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-018-0719-y">In a recent study</a>, I discovered that the number of kids living with their parents and grandparents – in what demographers call a three-generation household – has nearly doubled over the past two decades.</p>
<p>Why has this been happening? And is it a good thing or a bad thing?</p>
<p>The answers are complex. The reasons for the trend are as broad as social forces – like a decline in marriage rates – to unique family circumstances, like the loss of a parent’s job. </p>
<p>The trend is worth studying because by better understanding who children live with, we can design better policies aimed at helping kids. Programs targeting kids usually overlook these other people living under the same roof. But odds are that if grandma’s there, she matters, too. </p>
<h2>The flexible family unit</h2>
<p>A three-generation household is just one type of a living arrangement that falls under the umbrella of what demographers call a “shared household” or a “doubled-up household.”</p>
<p>In a shared household, a child lives with at least one adult who isn’t a sibling, parent or parent’s partner. It could include a cousin, aunt, uncle, grandparent or family friend.</p>
<p>In 2010, about <a href="https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p60-242.pdf">1 in 5 children</a> were living in a shared household, a 3 percentage-point increase from 2007. In a 2014 study, I tracked the same kids over time and found that by age 10, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4870020/">nearly half</a> of children in large U.S. cities had lived in a shared household at some point in their lives.</p>
<p>Then, to probe further, <a href="http://fordschool.umich.edu/phd-students/christina-cross">my colleague</a> and I used two large census data sets to study trends by the type of shared living arrangements.</p>
<p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-018-0719-y">We found</a> that, overall, the percentage of children in shared households had increased since 1996.</p>
<p>But the rise was nearly entirely driven by an increase in just one type of household: three-generation households – sometimes referred to as multigenerational households – in which children live with at least one grandparent and one or both parents.</p>
<p>We also found that the share of children living in three-generation households has risen from 5.7 percent in 1996 to 9.8 percent in 2016.</p>
<p>In other words, roughly <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XhNZoDC-rfYVtz-Ety4e88qp6DCH_IxG/view">1 in 10</a>, or 7.1 million, kids lives in a multigenerational household. At birth, about <a href="https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol30/60/30-60.pdf">15 percent</a> of U.S. kids now live with a parent and grandparent – a rate that’s double that of countries like the U.K. and Australia.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, there was no real change in the percent of children living with aunts and uncles, other relatives or non-relatives. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XhNZoDC-rfYVtz-Ety4e88qp6DCH_IxG/view">Nor did we find</a> any evidence of an increase in “grandfamilies,” also known as “skipped-generation households.” These are homes in which a grandparent is raising a grandchild without the child’s parents living with them. Counter to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/more-grandparents-raising-their-grandchildren">some media reports</a>, the share of children living in grandfamilies has held steady at roughly two percent since 1996.</p>
<h2>A trend rooted in more than the recession</h2>
<p>What propelled the rise in multigenerational households? </p>
<p>We found that shared living arrangements did increase during the recession, but it wasn’t just because of the recession. Research on unemployment during the Great Recession has found that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4325982/">the economic downturn didn’t have much of an effect</a> on whether <a href="http://www.socsci.uci.edu/%7Embitler/papers/Bitler-Hoynes-GR-fin.pdf">parents expanded their household ranks</a>.</p>
<p>In fact, the share of multigenerational households was rising before the Great Recession – it actually <a href="https://paa.confex.com/paa/2018/mediafile/ExtendedAbstract/Paper19171/Pilkauskas_historical_trends_3G_Extended_Abstract.pdf">started in the 1980s</a>.</p>
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<p>Furthermore, these shared living arrangements continued to increase even as the economy recovered. </p>
<p>All of this suggests there other, more deeply rooted, reasons for the increase.</p>
<p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XhNZoDC-rfYVtz-Ety4e88qp6DCH_IxG/view">My study identified</a> three possible drivers. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/23/144-years-of-marriage-and-divorce-in-the-united-states-in-one-chart/?utm_term=.6e471140c01b">Declines in marriage</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/12/18/the-unbelievable-rise-of-single-motherhood-in-america-over-the-last-50-years/?utm_term=.898bc40a265f">increases in single parenthood</a> mean more moms and dads are living with their parents, who can help with childcare and paying the bills.</p>
<p>Next, a growing share of U.S. children are non-white. Because minority families <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29770726">are much more likely to share households</a>, this population shift seems to explain some of the increase.</p>
<p>And finally, there’s the fact that more people are receiving Social Security. Because Social Security gives grandparents a steady source of income, it could be that these grandparents are stepping in to help their grandchildren if their own children’s incomes are too low.</p>
<p>But this only explains some of the increase. </p>
<p>There may well be a range of other factors at play: <a href="http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Harvard_JCHS_State_of_the_Nations_Housing_2018.pdf">rising housing costs</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/07/opinion/leonhardt-income-inequality.html?_r=0">growing inequality</a>, <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SPDYNLE00INUSA">increased longevity</a>, or even just an increase in the number of <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2017/demo/p70br-147.pdf">grandparents</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29361076">step-grandparents</a>.</p>
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<p>We also know that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3765068/">low-income</a> parents, younger parents and parents with less education are more likely to live in a three-generation household.</p>
<p>At the same time, some of the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XhNZoDC-rfYVtz-Ety4e88qp6DCH_IxG/view">fastest growth</a> in these households has been among more traditionally advantaged groups – children with married mothers, higher income mothers and older mothers. </p>
<p>More research is needed to really understand why these households have increased and the extent to which public policies, like <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w24594">reduced welfare availability</a> or <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/declining-federal-minimum-wage-inequality/">declines in the real minimum wage</a>, are driving this trend.</p>
<h2>Not an ideal arrangement</h2>
<p>While the exact reasons for the trend are still unclear, the fact remains that more kids are living in three-generation households. </p>
<p>What should we make of it? </p>
<p>Studies have found <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12048958">positive</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4963814/">negative</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3706187/">no effects</a> of three-generation households on children. </p>
<p>For example, sharing a household has <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4870020/">documented economic benefits</a>, like rental savings. But it can also make households crowded, which isn’t <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27103537">the best</a> environment for kids.</p>
<p>The findings are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdep.12016">mixed</a> because living arrangements are a complex topic. Motivation is difficult to distill. Sometimes people live together by choice – say, to be closer to family. Other times it’s by necessity – prompted by a crisis like a divorce, health problem or job loss. </p>
<p>From a policy perspective, who is in the household will likely impact the effectiveness of programs designed to help parents and kids. For example, programs that seek to improve the parenting skills of low-income moms generally focus only on moms. They’ll teach mothers to use positive parenting skills, like avoiding spanking their kids. But what if grandma still uses corporal punishment?</p>
<p>We also know that, in general, people would <a href="http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XL/2/354.full.pdf+html">prefer</a> to <a href="https://poverty.umich.edu/files/2018/09/Pilkauskas_Michelmore_EITC_Housing_Sept2018.pdf">live independently</a> and that it can be challenging to <a href="https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/pageid/2039">negotiate responsibilities</a> when living with others.</p>
<p>In other words, it’s a situation that most families would probably avoid if they could. So the fact that more people are living together suggests other larger societal and policy shifts are driving this trend.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104523/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natasha Pilkauskas has received funding from the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation, American Education Research Association and the Institute for Research on Poverty. </span></em></p>Over the past 20 years, the number of American households that have grandparents, their kids and their grandkids living under the same roof has nearly doubled.Natasha Pilkauskas, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/689312016-11-27T19:19:13Z2016-11-27T19:19:13ZWhy adult children stay at home: looking beyond the myths of kidults, kippers and gestaters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146229/original/image-20161116-13526-fgnbx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The stereotype of a dependent generation who won’t leave home overlooks the many reasons adult family members choose to live together in the one house.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-393915307/stock-photo-mature-parents-frustrated-with-adult-son-living-at-home.html?src=HF5vHz_LtVoVW5WNcldrdQ-1-33">SpeedKingz from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We’ve all seen it in the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427229/">movies</a>: overgrown “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/the-kidults-are-alright-20100831-14at3.html">kidults</a>” living at home while their parents pick up their dirty laundry, cook their meals and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0838283/">vacuum around their unmade bed</a>. </p>
<p>This narrow portrayal of what modern-day multigenerational households look like is also found in newspapers worldwide. Names like “<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italian-court-says-mummys-boys-have-right-to-sponge-off-parents-indefinitely-656576.html">mummy’s boys</a>”, “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/gen-why-bother-moving-out-20090630-d3ta.html">gen why bother moving out</a>”, “<a href="https://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiS9Nn_oK3QAhUGKMAKHRZBA24QFggZMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fbusiness%2Fopinion%2Fkippers-failure-to-launch-keeps-mum-and-dad-in-the-loop%2Fstory-e6frg9jx-1226572124793&usg=AFQjCNHwaOCzsw218OseICOAFF98E4RhPA&bvm=bv.138493631,d.d2s">kippers</a>” and “<a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/careers/new-social-classes-are-you-a-startup-star-slogger-gen-20-or-gestater/news-story/d0f7275d1e12749a92f810b9aabf4191">gestaters</a>” are used to describe this supposedly dependent generation who won’t leave the comfort of the family home.</p>
<p>Since we began <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/living-together-the-rise-of-multigenerational-households-in-australian-cities/">our research</a> four years ago, however, we have found that different generations of the same family live together in one household for a whole range of reasons. This results in a great diversity of outcomes. </p>
<p>These stories of different drivers and outcomes, along with findings from several related Australian studies, are retold in our new book, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Multigenerational-Family-Living-Evidence-and-Policy-Implications-from/Liu-Easthope/p/book/9781472476692">Multigenerational Family Living</a>. </p>
<p>In the book, we debunk a series of myths about multigenerational households. With around one in five Australians living in multigenerational households <a href="http://www.soacconference.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Edgar-Liu.pdf">since at least the mid-1980s</a>, it’s about time we moved beyond the stereotypes.</p>
<h2>Myth #1: Kids won’t become ‘independent’</h2>
<p>If one only paid attention to media reports, it’d be easy to think that multigenerational households in modern-day Australia come about solely because young adults won’t fly the nest. While there is some truth in this, there are other reasons, and combinations of reasons, that lead multiple generations of adult family members to live together. </p>
<p>Among the 392 respondents to our survey, “adult children yet to leave home” was only the third-most-common driver. Finance was the most common.</p>
<p>Finance, however, can encompass many things.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146850/original/image-20161121-4544-4ut9vm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146850/original/image-20161121-4544-4ut9vm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146850/original/image-20161121-4544-4ut9vm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146850/original/image-20161121-4544-4ut9vm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146850/original/image-20161121-4544-4ut9vm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146850/original/image-20161121-4544-4ut9vm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146850/original/image-20161121-4544-4ut9vm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146850/original/image-20161121-4544-4ut9vm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Survey results</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Financial constraints can come about for a wide range of structural reasons. These include an <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/6227.0/">increase in attainment</a> of tertiary (and even postgraduate) qualifications, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2014/oct/17/the-casualisation-of-australias-workforce-is-nothing-to-panic-about">workforce casualisation</a> and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/oct/04/apartment-rent-in-sydney-and-melbourne-beyond-reach-of-many-women">unaffordability of housing</a>, whether buying or renting. </p>
<p>These constraints often encourage the younger generation to delay leaving the parental home. However, we also found examples of adult children paying their parents’ mortgages and buying homes together to manage housing costs within the family.</p>
<p>Changes in government policies and priorities can also have impacts on people’s decisions about their living arrangement. The withdrawal of government support – such as changes in the Australian <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/childcare-changes-45000-families-to-lose-out-because-of-high-childcare-fees-20160210-gmr0fn.html">child</a>, <a href="https://agedcare.health.gov.au/aged-care-reform">aged</a> and <a href="https://www.ndis.gov.au/">disability</a> care sectors – increases the pressures on family members to take care of each other. </p>
<p>There have been reports of <a href="http://www.domain.com.au/news/when-the-grandparents-move-house-for-the-family-20160926-grp6fu/">grandparents moving</a> across town to be closer (or to live with) their grandchildren so they can provide child care during the day. </p>
<p>Likewise, some of our participants said they invited their elderly parents to live with them so they could take care of them because professional aged care facilities were unaffordable or undesirable. “Care arrangement support” was the second-most-common driver for multigenerational living.</p>
<h2>Myth #2: It’s something migrants do</h2>
<p>There is a lot of literature about how common multigenerational living is elsewhere, whether in <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=262351">Asia</a>, the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10823-008-9057-7">Middle East</a>, or <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w11079">Southern Europe</a>. </p>
<p>While more than one in three (34.9%) Australian residents born in North Africa and the Middle East lived in multigenerational households in 2011, only one in six (15.7%) born in Northwest Europe (e.g. the UK) did so.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146851/original/image-20161121-4544-1nlzr3p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146851/original/image-20161121-4544-1nlzr3p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146851/original/image-20161121-4544-1nlzr3p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146851/original/image-20161121-4544-1nlzr3p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146851/original/image-20161121-4544-1nlzr3p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146851/original/image-20161121-4544-1nlzr3p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146851/original/image-20161121-4544-1nlzr3p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146851/original/image-20161121-4544-1nlzr3p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Custom 2011 Census data. Image: Alec Gelota</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Certainly, there is a <a href="https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/csp/article/view/15921">cultural element</a> to living arrangement decisions. Yet our analysis shows that three-quarters of people who lived in multigenerational households in Australia in 2011 were born here or elsewhere in Oceania.</p>
<h2>Myth #3: Live-at-home kidults take advantage of parents</h2>
<p>One of the bigger gripes about multigenerational living is that not everyone pitches in. </p>
<p><a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11205-014-0643-5">Lyn Craig and Abigail Powell</a> found that while adult children do pitch in and help out with chores, these efforts don’t really help their parents all that much, particularly their mothers. </p>
<p>The reasons are a mix of adult children doing chores for themselves (such as doing their own laundry or cooking their own meals), instead of communal sharing, and of culturally imbued ideas about who should be responsible for groceries, cooking and gardening.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146853/original/image-20161121-4528-2tl4jn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146853/original/image-20161121-4528-2tl4jn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146853/original/image-20161121-4528-2tl4jn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146853/original/image-20161121-4528-2tl4jn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146853/original/image-20161121-4528-2tl4jn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146853/original/image-20161121-4528-2tl4jn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146853/original/image-20161121-4528-2tl4jn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146853/original/image-20161121-4528-2tl4jn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Survey results</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Complaints about chores, however, pale in comparison to those about lack of privacy in the family home. This is the result of a combination of family members not respecting personal boundaries but also of many contemporary housing designs (open-plan living, for instance) that are not suitable for multigenerational needs. </p>
<p>As Bruce Judd discusses in <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Multigenerational-Family-Living-Evidence-and-Policy-Implications-from/Liu-Easthope/p/book/9781472476692">his chapter</a>, some older housing models, including the resurgence of granny flats, may offer better outcomes to people who want to live together in multigenerational homes.</p>
<h2>What does it all mean?</h2>
<p>Despite the media and some academic spheres giving this household form more attention, there is still relatively little known about it, and particularly the experiences of those who choose to live in them. As <a href="http://www.popsugar.com.au/smart-living/Pros-Cons-Moving-Back-Your-Parents-42234762">this journalist realised</a>, there are pros and cons to multigenerational living, just as there are <a href="http://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/164">pros and cons to living alone</a>. </p>
<p>International <a href="http://www.if.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Generations-Apart-Brochure.pdf">policy recommendations</a> are advocating for more diverse housing products to house our ever-changing household forms. This includes encouraging people “to share our homes more with other generations and encourage greater intergenerational living”. </p>
<p>To devise the most practical policies do this effectively, we must have a greater understanding of the outcomes for different members within the household.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68931/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edgar Liu receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, New South Wales' Department of Family and Community Services, PAYCE Communities, SGCH Ltd, South Australia's Department for Communities and Social Inclusion, and Strata Community Australia (NSW chapter).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hazel Easthope receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>The stereotype of a dependent generation who won’t leave home ignores the many reasons adult family members choose to live together in the one house.Edgar Liu, Research Fellow at City Futures Research Centre, UNSW SydneyHazel Easthope, Senior Research Fellow, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/642932016-08-23T20:19:44Z2016-08-23T20:19:44ZNot on struggle street yet, but mortgage stress risk is rising<p>Newly released analysis from Roy Morgan reaffirms that it is the lowest-income households that face the highest mortgage stress. And, contrary to what many might expect, the worst stress is not in Sydney and Melbourne, where property prices have <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/real-estate-sydney-housing-boom-set-to-break-all-records/news-story/27c7b0e2a1328c515d6f44205435e326">hit record highs</a>.</p>
<p>The Roy Morgan report estimates that 18.4% of Australian households are experiencing mortgage stress, a situation where over one-third of their income goes towards servicing a home loan. </p>
<p>Mortgage stress can lead to many complex social issues. It is considered one of the underlying causes of the Global Financial Crisis. </p>
<p>For many households affected by mortgage stress, defaulting is the last resort. Yet, as the mortgage-servicing pressure increases, so does mortgage risk.</p>
<p>Mortgage risk, the chance of a borrower defaulting, has increased to 83.2% for households earning under $60,000 per year. It is, however, virtually non-existent for households earning more than $150,000.</p>
<h2>Income is more important than interest rates</h2>
<p>The Roy Morgan report highlights the importance of income, more so than house prices and borrowing costs, to mortgage stress. In fact, interest rates would need to more than double to match the impact of a loss of income on housing stress.</p>
<p>The previous peak in mortgage stress was in 2008-09, a period of high interest rates and bubble-like price growth in Sydney and Melbourne. </p>
<p>This time around, record low interest rates appear on the surface to be counter-balancing the default rate. Yet this is tied to a stagnation in income levels. </p>
<p>House prices and income levels moved in step until 2013. While house prices have continued to increase, household income levels have flattened since then, when the cash rate dropped to a historic low of 2.75%. The cash rate is now even lower at 1.50%, with <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/rba-will-cut-cash-rate-to-1pc-and-look-to-quantitative-easing-nab-forecasts/news-story/2463ed1682bef13d5c7e0d3357e71c3a">further cuts</a> forecast.</p>
<p>The troubling prediction from this is that mortgage stress among Australian households is set to remain high, despite the current low interest rates.</p>
<h2>Widening inequality</h2>
<p>As home ownership concentrates among wealthier households, this report also shows that higher-income households are more resilient to increases in interest rates. This means, too, that home ownership increasingly requires a dual income.</p>
<p>The owner-occupied home is often referred to as the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6554.0Main%20Features22011%E2%80%9312?open">largest single asset that most households own</a>. In countries like Australia and the USA, home ownership is promoted by government and linked to many aspects of <a href="https://www.stlouisfed.org/%7E/media/Files/PDFs/HFS/20130205/papers/GrinsteinWeiss_paper.pdf">future wellbeing</a>. However, as recent <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/owneroccupiers-become-minority-as-younger-generation-struggle-to-buy-own-home/news-story/3790f2f3a092bb134af1bcbbc637f788">HILDA analysis</a> shows, owner-occupied households are becoming far less common.</p>
<p>The “Great Australian Dream” is expected to apply to only a minority of households next decade. With those in the already most marginalised parts of society most affected by mortgage stress, a change in the structures that incentivise home ownership is required to minimise the growing inequality gap.</p>
<h2>Pockets of pain</h2>
<p>The limitation with national averages is that pockets of pain are brushed over. The report drills into state-by-state analysis and metro vs regional comparisons.</p>
<p>While the largest mortgages across the country, averaging over $300,000, are in Sydney, mortgage stress is highest in Tasmania and South Australia.</p>
<p>Mortgage stress in Tasmania and South Australia sits well above the national average, as do their <a href="http://lmip.gov.au/default.aspx?LMIP/LFR_SAFOUR/LFR_UnemploymentRate">unemployment figures</a>, 6.5% and 6.9% respectively, against a national average of 5.7%. Households in regional areas are also facing more acute mortgage stress than their city counterparts. </p>
<h2>The housing market underpins the Australian financial sector</h2>
<p>Regulators aren’t taking any chances. With nearly $1 trillion in outstanding mortgage debt, double the pre-GFC level, the <a href="http://fsi.gov.au/files/2014/07/FSI_Report_Final_Reduced20140715.pdf">2014 Financial Systems Inquiry</a> identified that mortgages are now a significant systemic risk. In a <a href="http://www.apra.gov.au/Speeches/Pages/A-prudential-approach-to-mortgage-lending.aspx">recent speech</a> on the prudential regulator’s outlook, APRA general manager Heidi Richards stated that “the housing market now underpins our financial sector”.</p>
<p>APRA has been tightening the lending standards of the big banks. Effective from July 1, the big banks have been required to apply <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/apra-lifts-mortgage-capital-on-big-banks-by-billions-of-dollars-20150719-gify5r.html">higher “risk weightings”</a> to residential mortgages. These determine the amount of capital held against assets to limit the likelihood of insolvency. </p>
<p>The silver lining to this otherwise depressing analysis is that the risks to financial stability are relatively low. Home ownership concentrated amongst wealthier households actually means there is a high degree of aggregate resilience to changes in future interest rates and incomes.</p>
<p>However, the report’s focus is on current incomes. To brace for a true housing market downturn, the key will be monitoring employment and income statistics – unemployment rates as well as hours.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64293/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danika Wright does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New analysis shows low-income earners, particularly in Tasmania and South Australia, face the most mortgage stress.Danika Wright, Lecturer in Finance, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/581302016-05-29T06:19:31Z2016-05-29T06:19:31ZWe can we reduce gender inequality in housework – here’s how<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124084/original/image-20160526-16706-rum624.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Full-time working Australian women spend, on average, 25 hours doing housework per week.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/financeninja/4755824953/">Paul Meyer/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>CHANGING FAMILIES: In this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/changing-families">ten-part series</a>, we examine some major changes in family and relationships, and how that might in turn reshape law, policy and our idea of ourselves.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>We live in the golden age of housework, where robot vacuums can spend hours pirouetting around the living room. The problem is these labour-saving devices often amplify standards of cleanliness. Any time saved is spent on other household chores. And it’s no surprise who bears the brunt of this: women. </p>
<p>Take, for example, the <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/More_Work_for_Mother.html?id=_6iAsTStE9MC">transition from the hearth to the stove</a>. This transformed cooking from one-pot meals to an elaborate endeavour of courses, all made possible by multiple-burner cooking and the stacking of a stove on top of an oven. <em>Voilà</em>, more work for mother. </p>
<p>The same goes for the washing machine, dishwasher, and the expansion of home sizes – more work for mother. </p>
<p>As a result, women are <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/publications/snapshot-how-australian-families-spend-their-time">increasingly time pressed, stressed and depressed</a>. </p>
<h2>How much do men and women do?</h2>
<p>Women today <a href="http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/LookupAttach/4102.0Publication25.03.095/$File/41020_Householdwork.pdf">spend as much time doing housework</a> as in the 1990s. Men have increased their housework contributions – a nod towards greater gender equality. Yet women still spend twice as much time on housework as men. </p>
<p>Full-time working Australian women <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features40March%202009">spend, on average, 25 hours</a> doing housework per week, including shopping for groceries and cooking. This is in addition to the average <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4125.0main+features1120Jan%202013">36.4 hours</a> full-time working women spend in employment.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124094/original/image-20160526-16700-nrhhyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124094/original/image-20160526-16700-nrhhyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124094/original/image-20160526-16700-nrhhyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124094/original/image-20160526-16700-nrhhyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124094/original/image-20160526-16700-nrhhyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124094/original/image-20160526-16700-nrhhyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124094/original/image-20160526-16700-nrhhyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women are more likely to do less enjoyable tasks like scrubbing the toilet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Full-time working men spend an average of 15 hours doing housework per week, in addition to their 40 hours in paid labour. </p>
<p>When weighed together, full-time working women spend 6.4 hours more per week working inside and outside the home than full-time working men. Averaged across the year, this means a 332 additional hours (or two weeks of 24-hour days) of work. </p>
<p>Women shoulder the time-intensive and routine tasks such as cooking, laundry and dishes. They’re also more likely to do the least enjoyable tasks like scrubbing the toilets versus washing the car. By contrast, men are more likely to do the episodic chores such as mowing the lawn or changing the light bulbs. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124132/original/image-20160526-22060-1mwehe2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124132/original/image-20160526-22060-1mwehe2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124132/original/image-20160526-22060-1mwehe2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124132/original/image-20160526-22060-1mwehe2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124132/original/image-20160526-22060-1mwehe2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124132/original/image-20160526-22060-1mwehe2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124132/original/image-20160526-22060-1mwehe2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Source: ABS Time Use Survey 2006. Note: the latest available trend data is from 2006.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Data from <a href="http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/content/79/1/191.abstract">the United States</a> show a large and lasting gender gap. Women do more housework than men even when they are more educated, work full-time and are more egalitarian. In fact, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1756-2589.2010.00074.x/abstract;jsessionid=D12FF2732EB996949895B5F58E0283C3.f03t01?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=">some studies show</a> women spend more time in housework even when their husbands earn less money or stay at home. </p>
<p>One argument for this counter-intuitive finding is that high-earning women do more housework as a way to neutralise the threat of their success on their husbands’ masculinity. </p>
<p>The jury is out on whether this claim is reliable but housework studies consistently confirm the symbolic gendered value of housework as a way to demonstrate femininity and masculinity in domestic partnerships. In fact, people’s sex lives are even tied to who does the dishes, with <a href="http://asr.sagepub.com/content/78/1/26.abstract">equal sharing couples having less sex</a>. </p>
<p>Even <a href="http://asr.sagepub.com/content/69/6/751.short">Swedish women spend more time in housework</a> than Swedish men, indicating that our Nordic sisters, supported by a system of equality, cannot get a fair shake on housework. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124095/original/image-20160526-16688-13pax2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124095/original/image-20160526-16688-13pax2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124095/original/image-20160526-16688-13pax2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124095/original/image-20160526-16688-13pax2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124095/original/image-20160526-16688-13pax2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124095/original/image-20160526-16688-13pax2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124095/original/image-20160526-16688-13pax2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women consistently spend more time in housework and, as a result, less time in employment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wefi_official/9272438746/in/photolist-f8nEZy-aihxu-7iVvVh-rd2FTN-2yMS5z-a1uQaR-veYpQ-7LzYys-boyhhr-4bN79f-3G8uri-28rtGN-y9WuP-fLYq2b-nGzSVF-cXsx7G-a7Vbsy-3gzXmG-pDahhV-9x4XPh-bKwuMk-9uZ6fH-7h6N3F-ouQrQ-ouQpH-qfXQVi-dQcsnq-Cbxi-b9zzBt-7RybXL-6emvX6-a4Tf5W-51wmPd-8nDF1K-9SAmJs-CeiSj-4VrKz-CiDEn3-8HFr3R-E9UUgk-egf3VC-a4Qohr-7T4UP5-DRiR-9Q9HgB-Cv7eq-dNQ67r-bf7TRr-8p9csx-7RybTb">Anne Worner/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Emerging research is investigating <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features10July+2013#housework">housework allocations among same-sex partners</a> for whom gender could be reduced or amplified. The results show same-sex partners are more likely to share housework than opposite-sex partners. </p>
<p>This suggests the cultural scripts associated with heterosexuality, marriage and family severely disadvantage women by holding them accountable for a larger share of the domestic labour. </p>
<h2>It’s about more than just a clean home</h2>
<p>Although performed in the domestic sphere, housework has important public consequences. </p>
<p>Women consistently spend more time in housework and, as a result, less time in employment. <a href="http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/LookupAttach/4102.0Publication25.03.095/$File/41020_Householdwork.pdf">Recent estimates show</a> Australian women account for two-thirds of the domestic load, while Australian men account for two-thirds of the paid work. </p>
<p>Women’s reduced attachment to the labour market means Australian families have less pooled family income, and women are more vulnerable to poverty if partnerships dissolve. </p>
<p>Income is consistently tied to power within relationships. So lower-earning women are less able to get their husbands to equally share in the domestic work. When women do earn more, their greater income is <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00522.x/abstract;jsessionid=04623D209D59C6E271459A90C60301ED.f03t04?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=">more likely to be directed</a> to outsourcing housework than is men’s. </p>
<h2>Moving towards domestic equality</h2>
<p>One response to housework inequality could be to monetise domestic work and pay someone to complete it. This approach is currently being applied in Sweden where the government subsidises families for their outsourced domestic work. Through tax breaks, Swedish families are <a href="http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/emcc/case-studies/tackling-undeclared-work-in-europe/tax-deductions-for-domestic-service-work-sweden">encouraged to hire maid services</a> to help with the domestic load. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124096/original/image-20160526-16703-18yx56z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124096/original/image-20160526-16703-18yx56z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124096/original/image-20160526-16703-18yx56z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124096/original/image-20160526-16703-18yx56z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124096/original/image-20160526-16703-18yx56z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124096/original/image-20160526-16703-18yx56z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124096/original/image-20160526-16703-18yx56z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Men have increased their housework contributions since the 1990s but are likely to do the episodic chores such as mowing the lawn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-34101337/stock-photo-a-man-mowing-the-front-lawn-with-focus-on-the-front-wheel.html?src=c-RlbWXpZfSWr1n4LkVsEQ-1-108">Stephen Mcsweeny/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Swedish government is betting the policy benefits will be two-fold. First, by encouraging women to more actively engage in the labour market. Second, to reduce the hiring of domestic labour off the black market, raising the wages, status and protection for women working in these domestic jobs. </p>
<p>With <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/australians-willing-to-trade-pay-for-flexibility/news-story/3caf4e72989766de4a475bd48e8b271d">38% of Australians intending to outsource</a> some domestic labour in 2016, the demand for these types of services is large and growing, indicating a need to help families subsidise these demands and support the workers providing services. </p>
<p>State governments could play a role in implementing these services through tax incentives or direct services. This, in turn, could help protect the workers in these positions who are often disproportionately poor and of immigrant status.</p>
<p>A second response could be to stop penalising women for dirty homes. This requires a cultural shift in expectations of “good” womanhood to reduce the cultural pressure of domestic perfection. </p>
<p>Finally, bringing men into the cleaning process is essential. This means expecting men to be equal housework sharers and not helpers. It also means not penalising men for “not doing it right” when cleaning. Cleaning the house is a skill men can learn one toilet bowl at a time. And this is the key to reducing gender inequality in housework.</p>
<p><strong><em>Read the other instalments in the Changing Families series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/changing-families">here</a>.</em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58130/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leah Ruppanner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Men have increased their housework contributions – a nod towards greater gender equality. Yet women still spend twice as much time on housework as men.Leah Ruppanner, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/354542014-12-19T06:16:08Z2014-12-19T06:16:08Z‘Get a lovely bust for Christmas’: tips from the 1930s on how to be a perfect festive woman<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67525/original/image-20141217-31052-xv0ycy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">You mean you don't make your stuffing from scratch?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nesster/5203437231/in/photolist-8VNYB2-7WvhAp-hQrCCY-jZxe4m-29bBqS-29bBqL-29bBr9-29bBqw-8SXexD-hb8fBs-7WvfR6-oqjhrh-nvpta9-hVd7no-kdBDPP-gAR7hk-im1iKt-h7pRrG-jvyDyE-8SXey2-oi4Jnf-7MkZ6e-mzEiDZ-puF7kW-pcFvfc-8D7PRS-29dWFL-8Uiofi-nB7krp-8CdqJb-8U5cU2-j9RJSB-edsHFX-8T1jbN-29dWFC-8Uwqpc-8SJwU4-29dWFs-29dWFm-oUhmHN-7isVQh-8UmsBf-8MCUGP-8Uzv5m-8SJwUr-7AqfTy-7Amx4z-b6GdFF-8ZMdiF-ecNJCm">Nesster</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When my good friend and long-term collaborator Sam Warren was given a pile of women’s magazines from the 1930s by her grandmother Jane Frampton, we found among them 11 Christmas issues of Good Needlework, Model Housekeeping, The Needlewoman and Stitchcraft.</p>
<p>We’re both preoccupied with popular culture but we’re also avid consumers of all sorts of total nonsense. And so the idea of comparing these issues to more contemporary versions emerged.</p>
<p>Because none of these magazines remains in print, we decided to buy up-to-date equivalents – namely the Christmas editions of <a href="http://www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/">Good Housekeeping</a>, <a href="http://www.redonline.co.uk/">Red</a>, Woman & Home and <a href="http://www.prima.co.uk/">Prima</a>.</p>
<p>Then, sat on the floor of my living room, we conducted a close reading of all 15 magazines, looking for any and all references to Christmas. We took pages of handwritten notes, drank a lot of coffee, smoked a lot of cigarettes, laughed a great deal and sometimes found ourselves downright dumbstruck.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67516/original/image-20141217-31034-1sn6a5l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67516/original/image-20141217-31034-1sn6a5l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67516/original/image-20141217-31034-1sn6a5l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67516/original/image-20141217-31034-1sn6a5l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67516/original/image-20141217-31034-1sn6a5l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67516/original/image-20141217-31034-1sn6a5l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67516/original/image-20141217-31034-1sn6a5l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67516/original/image-20141217-31034-1sn6a5l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Priority number one.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://davewhatt.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/the-amazing-vegetable-flesh-former/">Dave Whatt</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One particular favourite from the 1930s magazines was an advert in Good Needlework from 1937 claiming that readers can achieve a “Lovely Bust for Xmas” with the Beautipon <a href="https://davewhatt.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/the-amazing-vegetable-flesh-former/">amazing vegetable flesh former</a>. If only such non-invasive technology, we cried, was available for the less-than-well-endowed woman of today (ourselves included).</p>
<h2>Woman’s work</h2>
<p>It’s well known that the division of household labour by gender persists today. Despite all kinds of progress, women still carry a disproportionate amount of responsibility for this work.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67514/original/image-20141217-31031-4w762y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67514/original/image-20141217-31031-4w762y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67514/original/image-20141217-31031-4w762y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67514/original/image-20141217-31031-4w762y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67514/original/image-20141217-31031-4w762y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67514/original/image-20141217-31031-4w762y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67514/original/image-20141217-31031-4w762y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67514/original/image-20141217-31031-4w762y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not bought from Aldi.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This applies even more over Christmas, where the majority of tasks are still considered women’s work. That includes buying, wrapping and dispatching cards and presents and decorating the house before the big day. When December 25 arrives, it means making and serving festive meals, keeping everyone happy (however young or old) during the festivities and clearing up the mess afterwards.</p>
<p>We found that these magazines provide very clear constructions of what Christmas ought to be and how it should be organised.</p>
<h2>The gift of giving</h2>
<p>Such a lot has changed for women since the 1930s that we expected to see significant differences between our two sets of magazines in terms of the depiction of women’s role in the organising of Christmas. </p>
<p>There is one element of the perfect Christmas recipe that hardly seems to have changed since the 30s though. That’s the puzzle of gift buying. Across all 15 magazines, the message is clear – Christmas presents must delight the recipient and be affordable at the same time. Women, it seems, continue to be socialised to see <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/2626799">gift giving as an important</a>, part of their gender role and to attend to it very carefully.</p>
<p>One key difference is that the gift puzzle presented in modern magazines is more difficult than it used to be. Apparently there are many more ways to get gift giving wrong these days and to fail at being a woman. Now women need to take account of their kith and kin’s interests when choosing a gift. Are they a fashionista, a technophile or an outdoorsy type, for example? </p>
<p>Back in the 30s, gift options were more of the order of perfume or household appliances like irons for women; and chocolates, dolls and prams for girls.</p>
<p>This serves as a reminder that the extensive consumer choice on offer in late modern capitalism can in fact be much more stressful than it is liberating.</p>
<h2>Festive guilt trip</h2>
<p>Rather more of a merciful relief is the liberation from the kind of Christmas-from-scratch ideal that was pushed on readers in the 30s. Everything was supposed to be handmade, including presents such as a hot-water bottle cover, an egg cosy or a stamp-book case. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67509/original/image-20141217-31018-ovxps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67509/original/image-20141217-31018-ovxps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67509/original/image-20141217-31018-ovxps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67509/original/image-20141217-31018-ovxps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67509/original/image-20141217-31018-ovxps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67509/original/image-20141217-31018-ovxps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67509/original/image-20141217-31018-ovxps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67509/original/image-20141217-31018-ovxps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While you wait for Heston to be born…</span>
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</figure>
<p>This all might seem like quite a challenge, but these magazines suggest that a competent woman should be able to achieve the perfect Christmas for her loved ones, all she needs is a healthy dose of forward planning. As Ann Capell writes in the 1934 Christmas issue of Model Housekeeping: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think it is a little bit our own fault if we don’t enjoy ourselves as much as we expect, for very often we put everything off to the last minute, and on the great day prepare our toilet in a violent hurry and tear off all hot and bothered.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The modern magazines, on the other hand, at least acknowledge just how strenuous – not to say impossible – it is to make Christmas work. Now, labour-saving options, such as buying and then icing shop-bought Christmas cakes or for “fast festive make-up” which can be done in the back of a taxi, are presented as essential for minimising women’s stress levels. </p>
<p>In fact, the modern magazines were more open to discussing the pressure associated with not being able to live up to lofty ideals at Christmas.</p>
<p>But that’s not to say the Christmas burden has been entirely lightened. For example, women are encouraged to spend, spend, spend on food, gifts, party clothes and decorations, but also not to succumb to a mad retail frenzy whilst simultaneously purchasing wisely in terms of cost.</p>
<p>Indeed Christmas in our 1930s magazines may have come with pressures about making everything yourself – and indeed to have the right bust and not rush your “toilet” – but it was an altogether more unified, sentimental and happy affair. The mixed messages sent out by modern magazines has brought in something more complex and potentially even more challenging.</p>
<p>The expectations for women when it comes to festive labour have persisted across the years and, perhaps surprisingly, seem to have grown more pressing. As I engage in my own Christmas preparations, I wonder if my various Christmas disasters over the years (including last year’s attempt to amputate my index finger when making bread sauce) are therefore simply to be expected.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35454/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jo Brewis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When my good friend and long-term collaborator Sam Warren was given a pile of women’s magazines from the 1930s by her grandmother Jane Frampton, we found among them 11 Christmas issues of Good Needlework…Jo Brewis, Professor of Organisation and Consumption , University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/292032014-07-17T02:07:52Z2014-07-17T02:07:52ZWho gains most from axing the carbon tax – and at what cost?<p>When the carbon tax was introduced, there was a lot of discussion about <a href="http://www.une.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/23997/econwp11-3.pdf">winners and losers</a>. The Labor government <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_pricing_in_Australia">limited the number of businesses</a> that had to pay the tax, while it also gave carbon tax relief to large carbon emitters and large energy users. There were <a href="https://theconversation.com/carbon-tax-axed-how-it-affects-you-australia-and-our-emissions-28895">tax cuts for households</a> to shield them from the effects of the carbon tax. </p>
<p>The aim was to make the relative price of carbon intensive industries higher, not to arbitrarily benefit or hurt particular groups. In economic terms, the carbon tax aimed to create “substitution effects” away from carbon intensive industries while compensating people for the “income effects” of the tax. </p>
<p>This was sound economics. But all that <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/carbon-tax-strain-taking-toll-on-mps-20140715-3bzdk.html">has been forgotten</a> in the drawn-out negotiations over the carbon tax repeal, which <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-17/live-blog-coalition-in-bid-to-push-through-carbon-tax-repeal/5603830">finally passed the Senate on Thursday morning</a>. </p>
<p>The current debate has focused mostly on ensuring that <a href="https://theconversation.com/carbon-tax-axed-how-it-affects-you-australia-and-our-emissions-28895">the savings</a> from the carbon tax are passed through to households. While <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/sunday-roast-was-lamb-to-the-slaughter-of-the-carbon-tax-20140716-ztkd0.html">the size of those savings is disputed</a>, the idea that the future compensation to households should also be removed was quickly <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-09/government-fails-to-bring-on-early-carbon-tax-vote/5583696">scotched by the Senate</a>. </p>
<p>Households look set to have their cake and eat it too. They will get savings due to the removal of the carbon tax, while being compensated for a carbon tax that no longer exists! Of course, this will just expand the government’s budget black hole and lead to tax hikes and/or spending cuts down the track – which means that households win in the short-term will come at a higher cost later.</p>
<h2>Brown coal’s revival</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/who-wins-who-loses-if-the-carbon-tax-goes-20140709-zt1mm.html">Who else wins</a> in the short-term from the removal of the carbon tax? </p>
<p>Clearly the big greenhouse gas emitting <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/electricity-generators-get-ready-to-pocket-carbon-windfall-20140714-zt6z5.html#ixzz37UiWyN1J">electricity generators</a> win. In particular, the brown coal generators in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley will again become the cheapest (and still the dirtiest) electricity generators in the country. This simply reflects the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brown-coal-export-hub-tell-them-theyre-dreaming-6567">nature of brown coal</a> and the fact that it has few uses other than power production close to where it is mined.</p>
<p>Brown coal has a high moisture content. This makes it expensive to transport before it is dried. After all, you are transporting a lot of water. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, after it is dried brown coal becomes volatile, which also makes it uneconomic to transport. So brown coal is dried near the mine and then burned to produce cheap electricity. But both the drying process and the burning create significant greenhouse gas emissions. </p>
<p>Under an effective carbon tax, brown coal generators would be the first to close. The fact that high-pollution <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazelwood_Power_Station">Hazelwood power plant</a> continued to operate even with the carbon tax leads to real questions about the original policy’s effectiveness. </p>
<p>With the removal of the carbon tax, Victoria’s brown coal generators and the Latrobe Valley in general face less immediate upheaval.</p>
<p>Large greenhouse gas emitters can also win through the government’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-20/coalition-climate-change-direct-action-policy-explained/5067188">direct action policy</a>. This policy will seek projects to reduce emissions and will accept those projects which reduce emissions at the lowest bid cost. If you’re a major greenhouse emitter, then given the choice between getting taxpayer-funding to stop your pollution, or being taxed for that pollution, it’s fairly obvious which one you’d prefer. Of course, this just means more budget pain as the government turns a revenue source for the government into a new pool of government spending.</p>
<h2>The biggest losers</h2>
<p>Who loses from the carbon tax malaise in Australia? If Australia does not have a clear strategy to deal with climate change, then I would argue that we will all lose. But the problem is wider than just Australia’s self-interest.</p>
<p>Global warming – as the name suggests – is a global issue. Australia is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita">large emitter of greenhouse gases on a per person basis</a>. But, because we are a small economy, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contribution_to_global_warming_by_Australia">our total emmissions</a> are relatively small on global terms. We could pay to offset and eliminate our greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow. But, other than making us feel morally superior, it would have little direct effect on global climate change. </p>
<p>Our policies could have an indirect global effect. By showing the world what we could do, Australia could give other countries an example to follow in acting more decisively on greenhouse emissions. This was the best argument for the carbon tax and, longer-term, for an Australian emissions trading system. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the Senate debacle of the last two weeks and the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-08/abbott-endangering-future-on-climate-lord-deben/5582902">imminent scrapping of the carbon tax hasn’t helped Australia’s international reputation</a> as a nation doing our fair share to tackle climate change.</p>
<h2>What next for Australia and the world?</h2>
<p>So assuming the carbon tax is scrapped, what should we do next? </p>
<p>In my opinion, Australia should be actively engaged in the global debate about how to develop and pay for technology to deal with global warming. </p>
<p>This will <a href="http://economics.com.au/?p=3787">not involve growth-reducing strategies</a> that limit pollution in China, India or Africa. These regions will continue to grow their economies as rapidly as possible to move millions of people out of desperate poverty. But if that involves the development of high-polluting industries, then we will all have to face and pay for the global impacts of more severe climate change. </p>
<p>That leaves the developed world in the situation where it should be encouraging research into how to generate energy cleanly and how to mitigate the ongoing damage that global warming will create over the rest of this century. There are pathways to growth with low carbon emissions, but as <a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-our-eyes-on-the-ball-is-the-only-way-to-hit-our-climate-target-29078">Anna Skarbek and Frank Jotzo</a> note:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>some key technologies that are critical for deep decarbonisation in all countries’ pathways are not yet technically mature or economically competitive.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Economic incentives for innovation may be direct, including through <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/direct-action-plan">direct action</a>-style payments. They may also be indirect, through taxes and other mechanisms that penalise high emitters and reward those who develop low-polluting substitutes.</p>
<p>This may all sound overly optimistic. But in my opinion it is simply realistic. The developed world cannot ignore either the needs or the reality of millions of people living in poverty. Poor nations will adopt economic policies to grow richer. If the governments of those countries do not promote development then they are likely to be overthrown, either at the ballot box or through force. So climate solutions that restrict poor country growth, in my opinion, are simply unrealistic.</p>
<p>For the developed world, the alternatives are clear. We can do nothing – or limit our ambitions only to cutting emissions within our own borders – and watch as global emissions continue to soar from China and India. Or we can promote innovation to both adapt to climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p>Economics can help create the right incentives for this innovation. But the climate “deniers” are not just those who deny the science; they also include those who deny the economics and focus too much on cutting Australia’s pollution, as if that alone is a solution. It is not.</p>
<p>It’s not enough to think global and act local, as the old environmentalists’ slogan goes. We need to think global – and act global too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29203/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen King does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When the carbon tax was introduced, there was a lot of discussion about winners and losers. The Labor government limited the number of businesses that had to pay the tax, while it also gave carbon tax…Stephen King, Professor, Department of Economics, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/152312013-06-18T05:54:43Z2013-06-18T05:54:43ZThe disease-causing fungi that lurk in your dishwasher<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/25705/original/vmdqxq9s-1371487924.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This fungus is pretty harmless, but its tiny cousins are not.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bart Everson</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Researchers have found that dishwashers are particularly conducive to the growth and spread of disease-causing fungi. These fungi have been implicated in causing lung diseases and sometimes fatal infections, especially among those with weak immunity.</p>
<p>Fungi come in many different forms. According to a study <a href="http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13693786.2012.738313">published this month</a> and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21944212">another published in 2011</a>, the culprits in dishwashers are black yeasts (<em>Exophiala</em>), red yeasts (<em>Rhodotorula</em>), a white yeast (<em>Candida parapsilosis</em>), and some nasty moulds. These fungi make spores to survive in extreme environments, as well as to reproduce and spread. These spores are single-celled seeds that are very light and spread easily, through air or by clinging to moving things.</p>
<p>Species of <em>Exophiala</em>, have been shown to cause <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15316209">lung disease</a> in patients with weak immunity, according to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2168524/">recovered clinical samples</a> in the US. The mould <em>Magnusiomyces capitatus</em> can cause fatal infections in <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23583265">especially leukemia patients</a>. Both red yeast, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18785780"><em>Rhodotorula</em></a>, and the white yeast, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2570155/"><em>Candida parapsilosis</em></a>, are emerging disease-causing fungi, especially through infected catheters.</p>
<p>What makes fungi hard to deal with it is that they can survive almost anywhere and under extreme conditions. All they need is a little bit of moisture, even if it is in the form of humidity in the atmosphere.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/25706/original/pccgy2bt-1371488422.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/25706/original/pccgy2bt-1371488422.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25706/original/pccgy2bt-1371488422.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25706/original/pccgy2bt-1371488422.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25706/original/pccgy2bt-1371488422.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25706/original/pccgy2bt-1371488422.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/25706/original/pccgy2bt-1371488422.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not so clean after all.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">bryan birdwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It should not be surprising then that fungi prefer dishwashers. Not only are they damp and warm, the continuous use of detergents makes the environment favourably alkaline too. According to researchers, the rubber seals of dishwasher doors are the perfect places for these fungi. They are of course also found in natural environments like tropical rain forests, on tropical fruits, hot springs in Thailand, Japanese house baths and Turkish public baths.</p>
<p>In particular, species of the black yeast <em>Exophiala</em> and the mould <em>Magnusiomyces capitatus</em> also grow in high concentrations of salt, which tend to be maintained in dishwashers to avoid accumulation of calcium.</p>
<p>In the 2011 study, European investigators sampled 189 dishwashers from around the world. The presence of some mould or yeast could be detected in about 62% of these samples. The researchers also found that the calcium-content of water seemed to play a role in the growth and persistence of the black yeasts in the dishwashers, which agreed with <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9467104">earlier evidence</a>. Using scanning electron microscopy, they showed that black yeasts excreted polymeric substances that formed a tough biofilm protecting the fungi from excess heat and mechanical damage.</p>
<p>In the most recent study, Turkish investigators sampled 153 dishwashers, in addition to other appliances, and found similar results. Almost one in five dishwashers yielded fungi, mostly black yeasts. These researchers also studied the genetic signatures of these black yeasts, and found one type that had specialised in invading urban households.</p>
<p>To clarify, there is yet no direct relationship established between dishwashers and human fungal infections, but the health hazard exists. Today, many patients have weakened immunity; even healthy individuals may have some undetected impairment in immunity because of the environment we live in. There is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19854820">evidence</a> of association between mould-infested “sick” buildings and human disease, especially respiratory illness. The recent outbreak of meningitis due to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23147215">medication contaminated by a black mould</a> (<em>Exserohilum rostratum</em>) was traced to poor maintenance of sterility in a US pharmacy. A continued co-existence with the fungal jungle in one’s own household could become a serious public health concern.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/15231/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>All viewpoints expressed in the article are those of Kausik, and do not necessarily represent official positions of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and the Johns Hopkins University.</span></em></p>Researchers have found that dishwashers are particularly conducive to the growth and spread of disease-causing fungi. These fungi have been implicated in causing lung diseases and sometimes fatal infections…Kausik Datta, Post-doctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/79712012-07-02T03:26:10Z2012-07-02T03:26:10ZThe carbon tax, compensation and households: a two-party comparison<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/12415/original/39dnwmy7-1340951138.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The two major parties have taken different approaches to compensating households for the carbon tax.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jonas B</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The two main political parties agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to 5% below the 2000 level, or about a 20% reduction below business as usual. However, they propose very different policy interventions, which, in turn, will have different effects on households.</p>
<p>Labor government policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions include: placing a price on greenhouse gas emissions by way of a carbon tax starting at $23 a tonne of CO2 from July 2012, and then switching to an emissions trading scheme from July 2015; recycling most of the approximate $8 billion yearly revenue windfall to households to raise their disposable incomes and to selected businesses; retaining regulations such as the renewable energy target, fluorescent light bulbs, and building design restrictions; and subsidies for investments in some low-carbon technologies and for farm capture of carbon.</p>
<p>If the Coalition is elected, it proposes to: repeal the carbon tax and emissions trading scheme; retain Labor’s increases in social security payments and lower income taxation; retain most of the current regulations; and implement a larger system of subsidies for businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but with the details to be decided.</p>
<p>For households, the Labor package can be described as a tax-mix change package. Placing a price on carbon is a type of indirect tax increase. Similar to the GST, most of the carbon tax ultimately is passed on to households as higher prices. Prices of carbon intensive products, and in particular energy, are expected to rise by from 9 to 11 per cent. But, prices of carbon extensive products, such as clothing, will rise very little. </p>
<p>For the average household expenditure mix, the cost of living will rise by about 0.7%. The increase in social security payments (some of which have been paid already) and reductions in income tax from July 2012 of up to $300 a year will increase disposable incomes for all low and many middle-income households to over compensate for the higher cost of their expenditure.</p>
<p>Election of the Coalition to government - assuming they follow their current policy - would leave the Labor government increases in disposable income, but remove the price on carbon. In turn, prices of greenhouse gas intensive products - and in particular, energy - would fall, and there would be a one-off fall in the average cost of living.</p>
<p>Initially, the carbon tax or cost of tradable permits, is an additional cost of production paid by about 350 large companies in the electricity generation, petroleum products, some mines and waste dumps, and some manufacturers. These represent about 60% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. Most of the extra cost of the price on carbon will be passed on to customers as higher prices in the same way as businesses pass on higher costs of labour and materials.</p>
<p>Because all businesses use energy as an intermediate business input, in time all businesses in the economy will be affected by the price on carbon. The more energy intensive the business, the greater is the incentive to (and the reward from) changing production methods and the product mix to reduce the now more expensive energy input. In turn, these decision changes reduce their use of energy and their carbon footprint.</p>
<p>The relatively higher prices for greenhouse gas intensive products and the higher disposable income package will have a number of direct and indirect effects on households. First, the package changes relative prices to encourage households to shift their expenditure from greenhouse intensive products to greenhouse extensive products, and so to reduce their carbon footprint. As a result, some might keep warm by wearing an extra jumper and turning the heater down a bit; trade-in for a more electricity-efficient white appliance; catch public transport or walk rather than drive; and generally become more conscious in their use of electricity.</p>
<p>Second, lower and most middle-income households will be able to maintain their living standard because of the compensating increase in their disposable income - but in a less carbon-intensive way. In aggregate, household compensation will exceed $5 billion a year. Some middle income and all higher-income households will not be fully compensated for the higher cost of living. Some years into the future, and with the benefit of forthcoming information on the price of carbon under an emissions trading scheme, the government likely will revisit the income compensation part of the policy package.</p>
<p>Third, for some employees, policy interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will result in changes of employment. Placing a price on carbon, or subsidising carbon reduction, involves structural changes throughout the economy. Some jobs will be lost in the carbon-intensive sectors of the economy, but new jobs will be created in industries and firms meeting the increased demand for and production of carbon-extensive products and production processes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/7971/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Freebairn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The two main political parties agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to 5% below the 2000 level, or about a 20% reduction below business as usual. However, they propose very different policy…John Freebairn, Professor, Department of Economics , The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.