All posts tagged: crisis

Gen-X Women Are At A Crisis Point

Gen-X Women Are At A Crisis Point

Gen X women are at a crisis point. After years of child-rearing and making the house a home for her husband and family, working hard and trying to save for retirement while caring for older parents and relatives, she has reached her breaking point. She has been trying to be all things to everyone for far too long with little to no help, and she is now at the end of her rope.  She is underwhelmed by life fulfillment and doesn’t know how to be happy. A mid-life crisis is upon her. It is not just something men in this age group are facing. Gen X women born from 1965–1980, now in their 40s and 50s, feel lost.  They started to feel that they were losing their own identity as a person. After all of their hard years of work caregiving and in the workforce, Gen X women are no longer sure what they have to show for it. For this generation of women, their kids are growing up, and they don’t need their mom …

America Is Suffering an Identity Crisis

America Is Suffering an Identity Crisis

People often have mixed feelings about their birthdays, especially as they age. Countries can experience that too. For better or worse, America is due for a big birthday party: July 4, 2026, will mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—our national semiquincentennial, in the awkward Latinate construction, or “semiquin” for short. In an ideal world, it would be a moment of commemoration and celebration as well as a chance to reflect on national history. But so far, the semiquin is shaping up as an embarrassingly accurate reflection of America’s identity crisis. Until recently, America250, the federal commission charged with planning for 2026, was mired in organizational infighting and countless disputes, including over funding shortages and the distribution of patronage. Authorized while Barack Obama was president, the commission started work under Donald Trump, changed course under Joe Biden, and will spend most of 2025 answering to who knows which chief executive. But the challenges of 2026 extend well beyond logistics, appropriations, and leadership. How do you throw a grand national party when the country …

National competition – can your students solve the ocean plastics crisis?

National competition – can your students solve the ocean plastics crisis?

More from this theme Recent articles The Ocean Health Challenge arrives at a crucial moment. Coinciding with COP29, Green Careers Week and National Engineering Day, it invites students aged 11-18 to engineer a solution to prevent plastic pollution from entering the ocean. Led by prominent UCL academics and broadcasters Dr. Helen Czerski (above), Dr. Zoe Laughlin and Dr. Fiona Truscott, the challenge is CREST-accredited and offers the flexibility to explore various aspects of the problem through subjects ranging from science, computing and maths, to geography, citizenship, design technology and art. Moreover, all of the lesson plans and learning resources are fully adaptable meaning the challenge is ideally suited to be run during lesson time, as well as in clubs and societies, or dropdown and whole-school activity days. By taking part in the challenge students are empowered to design any type of solution, whether it’s a physical device, a digital innovation, or a behaviour change initiative. Running until the 30th November this year, there is plenty of time to participate via a very simple registration process. …

That box full of wires you’ve kept for years could help avert a looming crisis | UK News

That box full of wires you’ve kept for years could help avert a looming crisis | UK News

The unused cables and broken tech items you have tucked away at home could help steer the UK away from a copper crisis, according to new research. The research by campaign group Recycle Your Electricals (RYE) suggests the UK has 1.3 billion unused or binned electricals, including 627 million cables, which could hold the answer to the nation’s fast-approaching gap in the supply of copper to meet growing demand. Copper is a vital resource in the UK’s push to decarbonise the economy, as it’s used to build wind turbines and solar panels, as well as electric vehicles. The Conservative government committed to a 68% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 with the aim of reaching net zero by 2050, meaning copper demand is soaring. But additional analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence shows a growing gap between the amount of copper being produced and demand, with all the shallow, easy-to-extract copper deposits having been mined out. The lack of mining resources mixed with growing demand suggests there will be a 6.5 million tonne gap between supply and …

Raging wildfires in central Greece leave two people dead | Climate Crisis News

Raging wildfires in central Greece leave two people dead | Climate Crisis News

Two people have died in a rugged mountainous area in central Greece while trying to help firefighters tackle a forest fire that has forced several villages to be evacuated, authorities have said. The fire near Corinth, 140 kilometres (87 miles) west of Athens, was still burning on Monday, fanned by fierce winds. Greek police spokeswoman Constantina Dimoglidou said the recovered bodies were severely burnt and that laboratory tests were necessary for their identification. The fire brigade has launched an investigation, the Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection said. Smoke from the fire, which burned several homes and a church, hovered over the capital throughout Monday. Greece, like other southern European countries, is plagued by destructive wildfires in the summer that have been exacerbated by global warming. The country this year has experienced its hottest-ever summer after its warmest winter on record, which left large areas with scant or no rain. Over the past few months, authorities have had to cope with more than 4,500 wildfires in countryside left parched by a protracted drought and early summer …

A retention promise could galvanise solutions to the crisis

A retention promise could galvanise solutions to the crisis

More from this theme Recent articles With declining numbers of teachers choosing to stay in the profession and new recruitment unable to keep pace, retention is at a tipping point. To address this, a group of academy trust CEOs are proposing a bold new approach: a sector-wide retention promise. This retention promise, outlined in a paper by this year’s CEO system leadership group, aims to unite the sector under a shared commitment to ensure teachers feel valued and supported throughout their careers. The promise focuses on areas such as access to professional development, creation of positive and inclusive work cultures, supporting effective workload management and offering safe and flexible working conditions. By articulating these consistent expectations, the promise would seek to create a consistent, supportive experience for educators, regardless of where they work. However, time is of the essence; teacher retention levels are already at their lowest in over a decade. Currently, only 59 per cent of teachers remain in the profession ten years after qualification. The number of new entrants is dwindling, and intentions to stay in the …

On Heroism and On the Housing Crisis Books Release

On Heroism and On the Housing Crisis Books Release

Essay collections are the latest paperbacks in the Atlantic Editions imprint, from The Atlantic and Zando September 3, 2024, 11:30 AM ET Today is the publication date for two new books from Atlantic Editions, an imprint of The Atlantic and the independent publisher Zando: On Heroism: McCain, Milley, Mattis, and the Cowardice of Donald Trump, by Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic and host of Washington Week on PBS; and On the Housing Crisis: Land, Development, Democracy, by Jerusalem Demsas, a staff writer and host of the new Atlantic policy podcast, Good on Paper. Both books are available to buy at local bookstores and online, and are the tenth and 11th titles in the Atlantic Editions collection. Previous editions are by Elizabeth Bruenig, Lenika Cruz, Caitlin Flanagan, Megan Garber, Sophie Gilbert, Spencer Kornhaber, Jennifer Senior, Derek Thompson, and Kaitlyn Tiffany and Lizzie Plaugic. More on both titles is below. On Heroism With On Heroism, Goldberg expands on his explosive reporting about former President Donald Trump’s contempt for and repeated disparagement of military service …

Grenfell MP Says Building Safety Crisis Must Be Top Of Government Agenda

Grenfell MP Says Building Safety Crisis Must Be Top Of Government Agenda

Seven years since the fire, Grenfell campaigners have criticised the inquiry for taking too long (Alamy) 6 min read01 September Labour MP for Kensington and Bayswater Joe Powell has said that the Grenfell Inquiry report coming out this week will be a “huge moment” for the community, and hopes it will lead to the Government holding a debate on building safety in Parliament. A devastating fire broke out in the Grenfell Tower high-rise block in Kensington, London, on 14 June 2017, killing 72 people and injuring more than 70 others. It was the worst residential fire in the UK since the Blitz of World War II. On Wednesday, Phase 2 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry will be published, expected to look in more detail at the causes of the fire and the decision-making by authorities and companies which led to it. The report will be made available to bereaved and survivors on Tuesday before going public at 11am on Wednesday, with a Government statement expected later that afternoon. The inquiry was …

The mental health crisis in British schools

The mental health crisis in British schools

NHS statistics suggest that 20.3% – one in five – children and young people aged from eight to 16 years in England had a probable mental disorder in 2023. This a huge rise from 2017, when 12.5% had a probable mental health disorder. Data from social mobility charity The Sutton Trust shows that the prevalence of mental ill-health is higher for girls than boys. Girls are more likely to experience psychological distress and self-harm and are at greater likelihood of attempting suicide. And research from charity Just Like Us highlights that young people who are LGBTQ+ are more likely to develop mental ill health. The risk is even greater for Black LGBTQ+ young people, 89% of whom have contemplated suicide. According to a recently released report from The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Youth Mental Health, there is substantial evidence across the world that youth mental health has substantially deteriorated. Key factors outlined by the report include social media, concerns about climate change, food, housing and employment insecurity and intergenerational poverty. This decline in youth mental …