Should we be celebrating the Commonwealth Games organisers’ decision not to demolish Glasgow’s iconic Red Road Flats as part of the opening ceremony, where the live footage was to be beamed on huge screens…
Science has often come to the rescue when it comes to the world’s big problems, be it the Green Revolution that helped avoid mass starvation or the small pox vaccine that eradicated the disease. There…
Evidence about poverty is meant to be troubling. The only crumb of comfort for campaigners is that the harsh realities of everyday life portrayed through statistics, imagery and narratives can be the catalyst…
In the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation annual letter, published recently, Bill Gates declared “by 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world”. Pointing to the fact that during the…
Long before the advent of the internet, the Philippines was a prime destination for Western child sex tourists. The US military presence in the country during and following the Vietnam War fuelled a demand…
As part of a concerted effort to disengage my brain from work over Christmas, I decided to watch the recently released DVD of The Purge, which Santa had brought me. Heavily criticised as mindless and inane…
Despite low spending on health, a weak health system and widespread poverty, Bangladesh has achieved great strides in life expectancy, vaccination rates, TB control and a child’s chances of surviving past…
There’s been much debate this past month about Britain’s rising gas and electricity bills. Price hikes have followed utility companies’ reports of massive increases in profits, such as Scottish Power which…
The traditional view of health is a biomedical one – stop people from getting ill by preventing infection and treating disease. But a growing body of research showing that health is the result of social…
Our modern food system is a double-edged sword: delivering chronic under-nutrition due to shortages of nutritious food, and chronic obesity due to overconsumption. In Australia, we’re living among 60…
Disabled people are severely marginalised and among the poorest in developing countries. Having a disability increases the risk of poverty, and being poor also increases the risk of getting a disability…
Michael Gove’s recent suggestion that inadequate financial management skills among poor families are to blame for the increasing demand on food banks has, unsurprisingly, sparked an angry response. Critics…
“Politicians will talk a lot about ‘cost of living pressures’ during this election campaign, even though most people are enjoying living standards that are better than ever. However, a growing group of…
Welcome to the The Conversation’s Election 2013 State of the Nation essays. These articles by leading experts in their field provide an in-depth look at the key policy challenges affecting Australia as…
Why do some people get stuck in poverty? Most answers to this question start with the idea that external constraints trap people in poverty. These constraints could take the form of malfunctioning credit…
Fron Jackson-Webb, The Conversation e Michelle See-Tho, The Conversation
Most Australians have benefited from Australia’s decade-long period of economic prosperity – except for single parents and their children, a new study reveals. The latest release of the Household, Income…
The outgoing Bank of England governor Mervyn King has presided over a huge economic crisis. His parting gift is the claim “a recovery is in sight” that the UK might achieve economic growth of even 1% this…
Global poverty is declining and may be eradicated altogether in some countries in the next 20 years, a new study by the University of Oxford has found. The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative…
Ever heard of “environmental justice”? No? It links social and environmental discrimination. Still doesn’t sound familiar? Well if you’ve seen the movie Erin Brockovich - which examines how a single mother…