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How much weight do you actually need to lose? It might be a lot less than you think

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nick-fuller-219993">Nick Fuller</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> If you’re one of the <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/new-years-resolutions-statistics">one in three</a> Australians whose New Year’s resolution involved losing weight, it’s likely you’re now contemplating what weight-loss goal you should actually be working towards. But type “setting a weight loss goal” into any online search engine and you’ll likely be left with more questions than answers. Sure, the many weight-loss apps and calculators available will make setting this goal seem easy. They’ll typically use a body mass index (BMI) calculator to confirm a “healthy” weight and provide a goal weight based on this range. Your screen will fill with trim-looking influencers touting diets that will help you drop ten kilos in a month, or ads for diets, pills and exercise regimens promising to help you effortlessly and rapidly lose weight. Most sales pitches will suggest you need to lose substantial amounts of weight to be healthy – making weight loss seem an impossible task. But the research shows you don’t need to lose a lot of weight to achieve health benefits. <h2>Using BMI to define our target weight is flawed</h2> We’re a society fixated on numbers. So it’s no surprise we use measurements and equations to score our weight. The most popular is BMI, a measure of our body weight-to-height ratio. BMI classifies bodies as underweight, normal (healthy) weight, overweight or obese and can be a useful tool for weight and health screening. But it shouldn’t be used as the single measure of what it means to be a healthy weight when we set our weight-loss goals. This is <a href="https://theconversation.com/using-bmi-to-measure-your-health-is-nonsense-heres-why-180412">because</a> it: <ul> <li> fails to consider two critical factors related to body weight and health – body fat percentage and distribution </li> <li> does not account for significant differences in body composition based on gender, ethnicity and age. </li> </ul> <h2>How does losing weight benefit our health?</h2> Losing just 5–10% of our body weight – between 6 and 12kg for someone weighing 120kg – can significantly improve our health in four key ways. 1. Reducing cholesterol Obesity increases the chances of having too much low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol – also known as bad cholesterol – because carrying excess weight changes how our bodies produce and manage lipoproteins and triglycerides, another fat molecule we use for energy. Having too much bad cholesterol and high triglyceride levels is not good, narrowing our arteries and limiting blood flow, which increases the risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke. But <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4987606/">research</a> shows improvements in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels are evident with just 5% weight loss. 2. Lowering blood pressure Our blood pressure is considered high if it reads more than 140/90 on at least two occasions. Excess weight is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7082272/">linked to</a> high blood pressure in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7082272/">several ways</a>, including changing how our sympathetic nervous system, blood vessels and hormones regulate our blood pressure. Essentially, high blood pressure makes our heart and blood vessels work harder and less efficiently, damaging our arteries over time and increasing our risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke. Like the improvements in cholesterol, a 5% weight loss <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.21358">improves</a> both systolic blood pressure (the first number in the reading) and diastolic blood pressure (the second number). A <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/01.hyp.0000094221.86888.ae">meta-analysis of 25 trials</a> on the influence of weight reduction on blood pressure also found every kilo of weight loss improved blood pressure by one point. 3. Reducing risk for type 2 diabetes Excess body weight is the primary manageable risk factor for type 2 diabetes, particularly for people carrying a lot of visceral fat around the abdomen (belly fat). Carrying this excess weight can cause fat cells to release pro-inflammatory chemicals that disrupt how our bodies regulate and use the insulin produced by our pancreas, leading to high blood sugar levels. Type 2 diabetes can lead to serious medical conditions if it’s not carefully managed, including damaging our heart, blood vessels, major organs, eyes and nervous system. <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa012512">Research</a> shows just 7% weight loss reduces risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58%. 4. Reducing joint pain and the risk of osteoarthritis Carrying excess weight can cause our joints to become inflamed and damaged, making us more prone to osteoarthritis. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21425246/">Observational studies</a> show being overweight doubles a person’s risk of developing osteoarthritis, while obesity increases the risk fourfold. Small amounts of weight loss alleviate this stress on our joints. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15986358/">In one study</a> each kilogram of weight loss resulted in a fourfold decrease in the load exerted on the knee in each step taken during daily activities. <h2>Focus on long-term habits</h2> If you’ve ever tried to lose weight but found the kilos return almost as quickly as they left, you’re not alone. An <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5764193/">analysis</a> of 29 long-term weight-loss studies found participants regained more than half of the weight lost within two years. Within five years, they regained more than 80%. When we lose weight, we take our body out of its comfort zone and trigger its survival response. It then counteracts weight loss, triggering several <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25896063/">physiological responses</a> to defend our body weight and “survive” starvation. Just as the problem is evolutionary, the solution is evolutionary too. Successfully losing weight long-term comes down to: <ul> <li> losing weight in small manageable chunks you can sustain, specifically periods of weight loss, followed by periods of weight maintenance, and so on, until you achieve your goal weight </li> <li> making gradual changes to your lifestyle to ensure you form habits that last a lifetime. </li> </ul> Setting a goal to reach a healthy weight can feel daunting. But it doesn’t have to be a pre-defined weight according to a “healthy” BMI range. Losing 5–10% of our body weight will result in immediate health benefits. At the Boden Group, Charles Perkins Centre, we are studying the science of obesity and running clinical trials for weight loss. You can <a href="https://redcap.sydney.edu.au/surveys/?s=RKTXPPPHKY">register here</a> to express your interest.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217287/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nick-fuller-219993">Nick Fuller</a>, Charles Perkins Centre Research Program Leader, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-weight-do-you-actually-need-to-lose-it-might-be-a-lot-less-than-you-think-217287">original article</a>.

Body

Trying to spend less on food? Following the dietary guidelines might save you $160 a fortnight

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> A rise in the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook47p/CostOfLiving#:%7E:text=Consumer%20Price%20Index%20over%20time,but%205.1%25%20in%20the%20second">cost of living</a> has led many households to look for ways to save money. New research suggests maintaining a healthy diet, in line with the <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/guidelines">Australian Dietary Guidelines</a>, is cheaper than an unhealthy diet and <a href="https://southwesthealthcare.com.au/wp-content/uploads/SWH-HP-Healthy-Diets-ASAP-Protocol-Warrnambool-Report-2023.pdf">could save A$160</a> off a family of four’s fortnightly shopping bill. Poor diet is the most common preventable risk factor contributing to chronic disease in <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30752-2/fulltext">Australia</a>. So improving your diet can also be an important way to reduce the chance of developing chronic disease. <h2>First, what are the dietary guidelines?</h2> The guidelines provide information on the quantity and types of foods most Australians should consume to promote overall health and wellbeing. Recommendations include eating a wide variety of nutritious foods from the main five food groups: <ul> <li>vegetables and legumes</li> <li>fruit</li> <li>grains</li> <li>lean meats and meat alternatives such as tofu, nuts and legumes</li> <li>dairy products.</li> </ul> The guidelines recommend limiting our intake of foods high in saturated fat, added salt, added sugars and alcohol. <h2>What are Australians eating?</h2> Fewer than <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/dietary-behaviour/latest-release">7%</a> of Australians eat sufficient vegetables, in line with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. In fact, Australians have an average healthy diet score of <a href="https://www.csiro.au/-/media/News-releases/2023/Total-Wellbeing-Diet-Health-Score/Diet-score-2023-Report_September.pdf">55 out of 100</a> – barely passing. Foods that aren’t part of a food group are known as “discretionary” items, which includes alcohol, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and confectionery and most takeaway foods. Because they’re typically high in kilojoules, saturated fat, sodium and added sugars, the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend they only be eaten occasionally and in small amounts (ideally zero serves). For many households, discretionary items make up a big portion of their grocery shop. Australians consume an average of <a href="https://www.csiro.au/-/media/News-releases/2023/Total-Wellbeing-Diet-Health-Score/Diet-score-2023-Report_September.pdf">28 serves</a> of discretionary choices per week (equal to 28 doughnuts, 28 slices of cake, or 28 cans of soft drink or beer). This is an increase of ten serves since 2015. One recent <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12966-022-01389-8">study</a> estimated 55% of Australians’ total energy intake was from discretionary items. <h2>What did the researchers find?</h2> Researchers from the Health Promotion Team at South West Healthcare <a href="https://southwesthealthcare.com.au/wp-content/uploads/SWH-HP-Healthy-Diets-ASAP-Protocol-Warrnambool-Report-2023.pdf">recently</a> visited four local supermarkets and takeaway stores in Warrnambool, Victoria, and purchased two baskets of groceries. One basket met the Australian Dietary Guidelines (basket one), the other aligned with the typical dietary intake of Australians (basket two). They compared prices between the two and found basket one would cost approximately $167 less per fortnight for a family of four at the most affordable supermarket. That’s equal to $4,342 a year. Basket one was sufficient to supply a family of four for a fortnight, and aligned with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. It cost $724 and included: <ol> <li>fruit and vegetables (made up 31% of the fortnightly shop)</li> <li>grains and cereals (oats, cornflakes, bread, rice, pasta, Weet-bix)</li> <li>lean meats and alternatives (mince, steak, chicken, tuna, eggs, nuts)</li> <li>milk, yoghurt and cheese</li> <li>oils and spreads (olive oil).</li> </ol> Basket two reflected the current average Australian fortnightly shop for a family of four. In the project, the team spent over half of the fortnightly shop on processed and packaged foods, of which 21% was spent on take-away. This is based on actual dietary intake of the general population reported in the 2011-2012 <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/australian-health-survey-nutrition-first-results-foods-and-nutrients/latest-release#:%7E:text=Food%20consumption,across%20the%20major%20food%20groups.">Australian Health Survey</a>. Basket two cost $891 and included: <ol> <li>fruit and vegetables (made up 13% of the fortnightly shop)</li> <li>grains and cereals (oats, cornflakes, bread, rice, pasta, Weet-bix)</li> <li>lean meats and alternatives (mince, steak, chicken, tuna, eggs, nuts)</li> <li>milk, yogurt and cheese</li> <li>oils and spreads (olive oil, butter)</li> <li>drinks (soft drink, fruit juice)</li> <li>desserts and snacks (muffins, sweet biscuits, chocolate, ice cream, potato chips, muesli bars)</li> <li>processed meats (sausages, ham)</li> <li>convenience meals</li> <li>fast food (pizza, meat pie, hamburger, fish and chips)</li> <li>alcohol (beer, wine).</li> </ol> <h2>But a healthy basket is still unaffordable for many</h2> While this piece of work, and other <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/11/2469">research</a>, suggests a healthy diet is less expensive than an unhealthy diet, affordability is still a challenge for many families. The Warrnambool research found basket one (which aligned with guidelines) was still costly, requiring approximately 25% of a median household income. This is unaffordable for many. For a household reliant on welfare, basket one would require allocating 26%-38% of their income. This highlights how the rising cost of living crisis is affecting those already facing financial difficulties. Around 3.7 <a href="https://reports.foodbank.org.au/foodbank-hunger-report-2023/">million</a> Australian households did not have access to enough food to meet their basic needs at some point in the last 12 months. Policy action is needed from the Australian government to make recommended diets more affordable for low socioeconomic groups. This means lowering the costs of healthy foods and ensuring household incomes are sufficient. <h2>What else can you do to cut your spending?</h2> To help reduce food costs and support your health, reducing discretionary foods could be a good idea. Other ways to reduce your grocery bill and keep your food healthy and fresh include: <ul> <li> planning for some meatless meals each week. Pulses (beans, lentils and legumes) are nutritious and cheap (a can is <a href="https://coles.com.au/product/coles-chick-peas-420g-8075852?uztq=46abcbb7e16253b0cdc3e6c5bbe6a3f0&cid=col_cpc_Generic%7cColesSupermarkets%7cPLA%7cCatchAll%7cAustralia%7cBroad&s_kwcid=AL!12693!3!675842378376!!!g!326304616489!&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwkY2qBhBDEiwAoQXK5SceYhU2VtKepNLXWN218GH8Cp8Vs9cnYynCBwRqQPaW3UYNX2SVIBoC_6EQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds">less than $1.50</a>. Here are some great pulse recipes to <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/filter/keywords--vegetarian/p2">try</a> </li> <li> checking the specials and buy in bulk (to store or freeze) when items are cheaper </li> <li> making big batches of meals and freezing them. Single-serve portions can help save time for lunches at work, saving on takeaway </li> <li> Australian supermarkets are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/datablog/2023/jul/27/cost-of-living-grocery-store-price-rises-cheapest-fresh-produce-australia-woolworths-coles#:%7E:text=The%20results%20showed%20independent%20and,best%20place%20for%20affordable%20groceries">almost never</a> the cheapest place for fresh produce, so shop around for farmers markets or smaller local grocery shops </li> <li> buying generic brands when possible, as they are <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/streamlined-datagathering-techniques-to-estimate-the-price-and-affordability-of-healthy-and-unhealthy-diets-under-different-pricing-scenarios/872EA6396533166E0C6FA94C809D9CAC#r">notably cheaper</a>. Supermarkets usually <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-that-makes-us-spend-more-in-supermarkets-and-feel-good-while-we-do-it-23857">promote</a> the items they want you to buy at eye-level, so check the shelves above and below for cheaper alternatives.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216749/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> </li> </ul> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, Dietitian & Academic, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/trying-to-spend-less-on-food-following-the-dietary-guidelines-might-save-you-160-a-fortnight-216749">original article</a>.

Food & Wine

The cost of living is biting. Here’s how to spend less on meat and dairy

Food & Wine

Five easy ways to use less water at home – and not just in a drought

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/niko-wanders-1234321">Niko Wanders</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/utrecht-university-1354">Utrecht University</a> With so much of the world suffering from drought, you might think your ability to help is minimal. But when you consider the average person in the UK uses around <a href="https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/vast-majority-of-brits-have-no-idea-how-much-water-they-use-each-day/">142 litres of water a day</a>, it’s easy to see how small changes to your routine can add up. More than half of the water that is extracted from rivers, streams and aquifers in the UK feeds the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/env15-water-abstraction-tables">public water supply</a>. These abstractions, as they’re called, worsen drought conditions by draining local waterways, depriving vegetation, fish and other aquatic life of the water they need to survive droughts. Filling paddling pools to cool off, taking multiple showers each day to stay clean, watering the garden to revive wilting plants – all these extra activities contribute to a sharp increase in public water use on hot and dry days. And these impacts can endure for months, as freshwater systems need a lot of additional rainfall to recover from droughts. If each person can reduce their water use during a drought, it would significantly benefit the natural world in its recovery. Here are five things you can do, starting today. <h2>1. Shower less</h2> Most of the water you use is <a href="https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/vast-majority-of-brits-have-no-idea-how-much-water-they-use-each-day/">in the shower</a>. For every minute you’re under the shower head (depending on how powerful it is), around 10 litres of water drains away. Since most people shower for <a href="https://www.mirashowers.co.uk/blog/trends/revealed-what-brits-are-really-getting-up-to-in-the-bathroom-1/#:%7E:text=Most%20Brits%20(62%25)%20bathe,latest%20UK%20shower%20habits%20survey.">an average of seven minutes</a>, half of your daily water use takes place first thing in the morning. Turning off the shower while shampooing your hair or applying shower gel can help conserve water, as can shortening the length of your shower overall. Be sure not to switch to a bath though – the average soak in the tub uses <a href="https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/vast-majority-of-brits-have-no-idea-how-much-water-they-use-each-day/">around 80 litres of water</a>. <h2>2. Use rainwater in the garden</h2> <figure class="align-right zoomable"><figcaption></figcaption></figure> During a dry spell, the average gardener can use <a href="https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/siteassets/documents/uwu-0618-web-version.pdf">hundreds of litres</a> of water to keep their plants hydrated. Some people will use a watering can (good), others might leave a sprinkler on all day (bad). Most use drinking water, which is a waste – plants are happy with rain water. Add a water butt that collects the rain which falls on your roof and use it for the garden. To find out how to install one, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jk0lstsu5o">watch this</a>. <h2>3. Use the short flush</h2> Per flush, your toilet uses about <a href="https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/vast-majority-of-brits-have-no-idea-how-much-water-they-use-each-day/">5 litres of water</a>, and up to 10 litres in older models. If available, use the short flush to significantly reduce how much water is wasted. <h2>4. Cut back on car washing</h2> If you need to wash your car, do it the old-fashioned way with a bucket and soap rather than hosing it down. The water contained in a bucket (<a href="https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/vast-majority-of-brits-have-no-idea-how-much-water-they-use-each-day/">roughly 30 litres</a>) is significantly less than the average that flows through a hose (around <a href="https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/siteassets/documents/uwu-0618-web-version.pdf">15 litres per minute</a>). Better yet, avoid washing your car entirely during a drought. <h2>5. Reuse water</h2> If you’re washing vegetables, you could collect the water in a bowl in the sink and later give it to the plants in your house or outside. While you’re waiting for warm water to come out of a tap, use the cold to fill the kettle. Close the tap while you’re lathering your hands with soap or brushing your teeth. Though these are only small savings, they do make a difference over time. Inflatable pools are lovely for cooling down on the hottest days. A cleaning pump can filter the water and recycle it without you needing to use more water to keep the pool clean. <h2>Save water, save money</h2> All these tips can significantly reduce your water use and combat the effects of drought on the environment. They can also save you money. If you’re able to renovate your home, it’s worth installing a system for collecting rain water which, combined with a pump, can flush toilets. In Belgium, for example, it is common practice to have such a system installed (effectively, a large underground water butt) in newly built houses. Most people would struggle to afford these kinds of measures, and so drought-proofing homes and communities should be part of the effort to adapt countries to the extreme weather expected in a rapidly warming world. Image credit: Shutterstock <hr /> <figure class="align-right "><figcaption></figcaption></figure> Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like? <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 10,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187885/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <hr /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/niko-wanders-1234321">Niko Wanders</a>, Assistant Professor in Hydrological Extremes, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/utrecht-university-1354">Utrecht University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-easy-ways-to-use-less-water-at-home-and-not-just-in-a-drought-187885">original article</a>.

Home & Garden

Why smart people prefer fewer friends

While we know that loneliness can be bad for our health, it seems that not everyone wants to be surrounded by a big group of friends. For those with a higher IQ, in fact, a smaller circle of friends is preferred. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26847844">In their study of wellbeing</a> published in the British Journal of Psychology, researchers looked at what it is that makes people happy. Using a group of 15,000 people aged 18 to 28, they found that those living in more densely populated areas deemed themselves a being less satisfied with their quality of life. They then looked at the number of interactions the people had with their inner circle of friends, and it appeared that the more connections they made, the happier they reported being. However there was a significant exception to this ‘more is better’ approach to friendship. For those with the highest IQs, the correlation went the other way – they were less likely to claim to be satisfied with their quality of life if they were interacting with their friendship group more often. Does this sound familiar? Do you know some very smart people (or you may even be the smart one) who prefer to spend time on their own rather than being out and about with friends? It seems that for the super intelligent, spending time socialising can be seen as a missed opportunity to better oneself. Meaning that instead of going to a party or a film, they would prefer to spend time studying, reading, or partaking in activities that will help them achieve their own personal goals. These are the people who would stay home to study when everyone else was going on a road trip for the weekend. The person who started their own business and spent every spare minute they had on it. They would even miss special occasions as they were so caught up in what they were doing that they didn’t notice the time. So if you are on the receiving end of a ‘no thank you’ to your invitation to socialise from your high IQ pal, now you know not to take it personally. It’s not that they don’t see friendship as valuable and important, they just really value their own time and space to try and reach their goals. Have you noticed that your highly intelligent friends tend to socialise less? Or are you the smart one that tends to pull away in order to focus on your own pursuits? Image credits: Getty Images

Mind

Female artists earn less than men. Coming from a diverse cultural background incurs even more of a penalty – but there is good news, too

Artists all over the world, regardless of their gender, earn <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/handbook/handbook-of-the-economics-of-art-and-culture">considerably less</a> than professionals in occupations requiring similar levels of education and qualifications. But there’s an additional income penalty for artists who are female. In an analysis of gender differences in the incomes of professional artists in Australia that <a href="https://australiacouncil.gov.au/advocacy-and-research/the-gender-pay-gap-among-australian-artists/">we undertook in 2020</a>, we found the creative incomes of women were 30% less than those of men. This is true even after allowing for differences in such things as hours worked, education and training, time spent in childcare and so on. This income penalty on women artists was greater than the gender pay gap of 16% experienced in the overall Australian workforce at the time. <a href="https://theconversation.com/screen-australia-celebrates-its-work-in-gender-equality-but-things-are-far-from-equal-122266">Some sectors</a> of the arts have tried to redress this problem. However, women continue to suffer serious and unexplained gender-based discrimination in the artistic workplace. Cultural differences are <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27725">also known</a> to influence pay gaps in many countries. In new research <a href="https://australiacouncil.gov.au/advocacy-and-research/culture-and-the-gender-pay-gap-for-australian-artists">out today</a>, we considered whether cultural factors might also affect the gender pay gap of artists in Australia. In addition, we analysed the gender pay gap for remote Indigenous artists for the first time. <h2>A larger gap for women from a non-English speaking background</h2> In our <a href="https://australiacouncil.gov.au/advocacy-and-research/making-art-work/">2016 survey of 826 professional artists</a> working in metropolitan, regional and rural Australia, we asked participants if they came from a non-English speaking background. Only a relatively small proportion of artists – 10% – came from a non-English-speaking background, compared to 18% for the Australian labour force as a whole. A non-English-speaking background appears to carry an income penalty only for women artists, not for men. We found the annual creative earnings of female artists from a non-English-speaking background are about 71% of the creative incomes of female artists whose first language is English. But there is little difference between the corresponding incomes of male artists. Within the group of artists from language backgrounds other than English, the annual creative earnings of female artists are about half (53%) those of their male counterparts. By contrast, the ratio of female to male creative earnings among English-speaking background artists is 73%. These results suggest that women artists from a non-English-speaking background suffer a triple earnings penalty – from being an artist (and hence as a group earning less than comparable professionals), from their gender, and from their cultural background. Despite this earnings disadvantage, 63% of artists who identified as having a first language other than English thought their background had a positive impact on their artistic practice. Only 16% thought it had a negative impact. When artists were asked whether being from a non-English speaking background was a restricting factor in their professional artistic development, 17% of women answered “yes”, compared to only 5% of men from a similar background. Nevertheless, like their male colleagues, these women artists continue to celebrate their cultural background in their art. They contribute to the increasingly multicultural content of the arts in Australia, holding up a mirror to trends in Australian society at large. <h2>No gender gap in remote Indigenous communities</h2> For First Nations artists working in remote communities, a different picture emerges. For this research, we used results for remote communities in three regions of northern Australia drawn from our <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/257301">National Survey of Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists</a>. The gender gap is not replicated among remotely practising First Nations artists. There are some minor variations in this finding for subgroups in different regions, depending in part on differences in the mix of visual and performing artists in the population. But whatever other differentials may exist between female and male earnings, they do not appear to be attributable to the sorts of systemic gender-based discrimination that affects the residual gender gap for other Australian artists. A possible reason relates to fundamental differences between the cultural norms, values and inherited traditions that apply in remote and very remote First Nations communities. Gender roles in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have been <a href="https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/can.1992.7.2.02a00020">described</a> by researchers as distinctively different, rather than superior or inferior. The importance of both women and men as bearers of culture has been clearly articulated. The unique cultural content of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music, dance, visual art and literature is an essential feature of the work of these artists. These characteristics pass through to the marketplace, and there does not appear to be any obvious gender gap in the way the art from these remote communities is received. There is always differentiation between the art produced in different remote regions of Australia which varies depending on the complexities of different inherited cultural traditions. But there is no indication of any gender-based discrimination associated with these regional differences. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/female-artists-earn-less-than-men-coming-from-a-diverse-cultural-background-incurs-even-more-of-a-penalty-but-there-is-good-news-too-195646" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Art

One of Australia’s smallest homes sells for less than $100K

One of Australia’s most unusual homes, a tiny cottage that sits on stilts, seems to have found a new owner. A blue, one-bedroom house in Innisfail, Queensland, is currently under offer at $95,000 ($NZ 103,000), as reported by <a href="https://www.nine.com.au/property/homes/australias-tiny-blue-home-on-stilts-sells-for-95-thousand/c117bc64-2ea0-45e1-b145-98c47faaa7d3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nine</a>, after it was listed for $99,000 ($NZ 108,000) by Raine & Horne. With just 110 square metres of internal space, the property could be one of Australia’s smallest permanent homes. While <a href="https://www.raineandhorne.com.au/innisfail/properties/8-pelican-street-innisfail-4860-queensland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the listing</a> describes it as having “plenty of life left in it” and “ready for a quick restoration”, the current state of the home’s interiors makes it uninhabitable, including holes in the walls with exposed wires, a shell of a kitchen, and loose wooden pailings on one side. The agent told the outlet that the house is on “stilts” after being moved from another local block and described it as a “potential gold mine”. The current owner reportedly had plans to build on the 1067-square-metre block, but these have since fallen through. An oven, bed, and a fridge with writing on it remain in the house, along with a single basin on the floor in one room. The space underneath the home is also partially enclosed, with an existing shower and the potential to be turned into a studio. Images: Raine & Horne Innisfail

Real Estate

Gender pension gap: why women save less - and why that’s changing dramatically

One issue <a href="https://www.scottishwidows.co.uk/knowledge-centre/gender-pension-gap/">that has</a> attracted <a href="https://prospect.org.uk/article/what-is-the-gender-pension-gap/#:%7E:text=The%20gender%20pension%20gap%20is,gap%20that%20year%20(17.3%25).">growing attention</a> in <a href="https://www.aviva.co.uk/aviva-edit/your-money-articles/women-know-gender-pension-gap/">recent years</a> is the “gender pension gap” – the fact that on average, women have lower private pension wealth and lower income in retirement than men. But before rushing to conclusions about how to “fix” this, it is crucial to understand what lies behind any pension differences between men and women. There are three main potential drivers behind this phenomenon: <ol> <li> Different labour market experiences: the “<a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/10358">gender pay gap</a>”, and the fact that <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Duration_of_working_life_-_statistics#:%7E:text=In%202019%2C%20the%20estimated%20expected,aged%2015%20years%20and%20more">men have</a> longer paid working lives than women; </li> <li> Different investment strategies: when it comes to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/pension-types">defined contribution pensions</a>, <a href="https://s-h-w.com/news-articles">men choose</a> to invest in portfolios with a higher expected rate of return. </li> <li> Different saving rates: as <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/15425">we investigate</a> below, men and women may also differ in how likely they are to be offered a pension in their job, or tend to work for employers that contribute more or less to a pension, or tend to make different contributions themselves. </li> </ol> Importantly, the role of these potential drivers will have changed over time for various reasons. Mothers <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/familiesandthelabourmarketengland/2019#:%7E:text=In%20April%20to%20June%202019%2C%20three%20in%20four%20mothers%20with,mothers%20in%20employment%20in%202000.">have increasingly participated</a> in the labour market over the years, for example. Final salary pensions have been reformed to career average schemes, which in particular reduced the generosity for long stayers and those with stronger pay growth, <a href="https://www.pensionspolicyinstitute.org.uk/sponsor-research/research-reports/2013/17-05-2013-the-implications-of-the-coalition-governments-public-service-pension-reforms/">affecting men</a> more than women. Also, <a href="https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/pensions-basics/automatic-enrolment">automatic enrolment</a> has been introduced for workplace pensions, which affected everyone’s participation in them. Gaps in pension income today may therefore reflect labour markets and pension arrangements from many years ago, and the gap in pension income for current working-age individuals may be quite different when they reach retirement. In an ongoing programme of work at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, funded by the <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/">Nuffield Foundation</a>, we are examining in detail differences in pension saving rates between men and women that will contribute to a future “gender pension gap” for today’s working age individuals. <h2>Making sense of the gap</h2> In a <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/15421">first publication</a>, we have documented differences in average pension saving between male and female employees before the introduction of <a href="https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/pensions-basics/automatic-enrolment">automatic enrolment</a> in 2012. We found that on average across all employees (whether saving in a pension or not), women of all ages actually contributed more as a proportion of their earnings each year than men. However, this was driven by the fact that women were more likely to work in the public sector, where contribution rates are typically higher. Examining average pension saving among men and women within each sector reveals a different pattern. The average saving rates of male and female employees were similar until around age 35 but then diverged, with average contributions continuing to increase with age for men but not changing for women. The graphs below unpick what was driving this pattern among private-sector employees in Great Britain (though the pattern was broadly similar for public-sector employees). It was caused by the extent to which men and women participated in a pension. The proportion of men and women saving anything in a private pension was similar until around age 30 but then diverged, with men increasingly likely to be saving in a pension as they get older, while women’s pension participation plateaued. On the other hand, average contribution rates for those saving in a pension were actually slightly higher as a share of earnings among women than men. Pension participation in overall savings <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/graph-1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Average contribution rates in pension savings <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/graph-2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> What might have been driving differences in pension participation? The timing of the divergence in people’s lives mirrored the evolution of the gender gaps <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/genderpaygapintheuk/2020">in pay</a>, <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/13673">commuting</a> and <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14032">firm productivity</a>, and suggested that the arrival of children and related employment decisions was an important factor. So in our ongoing programme of research we are examining whether the gap in pension participation is associated with the arrival of children, and the extent to which female employees received a different pension offer from their employer, or made different saving decisions when presented with the same offer as male employees. <h2>Effect of automatic enrolment</h2> The introduction of automatic enrolment into workplace pensions has substantially changed pension-saving behaviour – in particular, substantially increasing pension participation among employees targeted by the policy. The graph below shows the proportion of male and female employees of different ages who were saving in a private workplace pension in 2012 and 2019 in Great Britain. The pattern in 2012 is represented by the two sets of dashed lines, with men again in blue and women in purple. It is similar to that estimated in the first graph in this article. But the pattern in 2019 is totally different. Rather than participation diverging at a particular age, women are now slightly less likely to be in a pension at all ages than men (but the level of participation among both is considerably higher). Automatic enrolment will therefore have fundamentally changed the nature of the gender gap in pension-saving rates going forwards. Pension participation 2019 vs 2012 <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/graph-3.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> This highlights the importance of examining gender differences in saving rates, rather than just accrued pension wealth or pension income. Focusing on the latter risks developing policies to fix a perceived problem that has already changed. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/gender-pension-gap-why-women-save-less-and-why-thats-changing-dramatically-160648" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Retirement Income

Covid antiviral found to be “less effective” than placebo

Australia’s most widely-prescribed antiviral treatment for COVID-19 has been called into question seven months after it became available, after the results of a study into antiviral treatments found it was less effective than we initially thought. Molnupiravir, sold as Lageviro in Australia, has been prescribed to Aussies at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 around 237,440 times since it was included in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) in March, according to the <a href="https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/doubts-over-impact-of-key-antiviral-treatment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RACGP</a>. But, preliminary data from <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4237902" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a study called PANORAMIC</a>, conducted by the University of Oxford, suggests that molnupiravir is not much better at reducing hospitalisation or deaths than those receiving standard care. Out of 25,000 adults included in the PANORAMIC trial, 103 of the 12,516 people taking molnupiravir were hospitalised or died in comparison to 96 of the 12,484 people not taking the drug. However, the study did find that those taking molnupiravir recovered more quickly. While the people participating in this trial were mostly vaccinated and healthy, <a href="https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-2115769/v1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another study</a> involving nearly 20,000 adults over 40 - including 1000 being treated with molnupiravir and most having immunity from vaccinations of prior Covid infections - found that the rate of hospitalisation dropped by nearly half and deaths were reduced by nearly 75 percent among those aged over 65. The trial has confirmed long-held suspicions While the results of the PANORAMIC trial have caused a stir, with Australia’s National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce saying it would review the study and probably update its recommendations, scientists have been sceptical of the effectiveness of molnupiravir for a while. Professor Peter White, who researches viruses, including their evolution and treatment with antivirals at the UNSW, Sydney, is one such sceptic. He tells OverSixty that we can expect to see similar results until a fundamental change is made to how we produce COVID-19 treatments. “The drugs that we’re using on coronavirus, like molnupiravir and paxlovid, both of those are actually designed for influenza, not for coronavirus. They were repurposed,” he explains. “And to me, that has never really worked well, like the drugs for HIV and HCV.” Professor White says this is because molnupiravir belongs to a particular class of drug called nucleotide analogues, which he says are the most common type of antiviral we use. “It’s a mimic of a natural RNA, what we call a nucleotide analogue, or a mimic of one of the four building blocks of life. In this case it’s an RNA molecule rather than DNA,” he explains. These drugs, which are used to treat hepatitis B and C, HIV, and herpes viruses among others, work by mimicking RNA and DNA molecules viruses use to replicate. “They tend to work by chain termination. The polymerase isn’t sophisticated enough to see that it’s not a true building block so they get incorporated into the new viral genomes,” Professor White explains. “So it incorporates into the growing RNA strand, but then nothing else can get incorporated and replication of the virus is stopped and you won’t get any replication from that strand.” But, a small percentage of nucleoside analogues don’t work like this, and molnupiravir is one of them. Instead, they introduce more mutations to the RNA than normal, which drives the virus into ‘error catastrophe’, otherwise known as lethal mutagenesis. “The virus ends up over-mutating and killing itself,” Professor White says. A comedy of errors isn’t that effective for viruses Antivirals that introduce mutations, such as molnupiravir, aren’t as effective as the chain terminating antivirals, according to Professor White, The only effective example, a drug developed to treat hepatitis C called ribavirin, came with severe side effects, including flu-like symptoms. But, it turns out that nucleoside analogues are quite specific too, primarily working on the virus they were designed for. “The antivirals that work really well have been designed against the virus that they were aimed to target,” Professor White explains. “And we haven’t had enough time to design really good coronavirus-specific antivirals. We’ve had enough time to repurpose Ebola and influenza drugs for coronaviruses, but most of the time it doesn’t work well. “And [molnupiravir] is another example of it not working.” History repeats itself Australia was one of the more aggressive purchasers of molnupiravir, with the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/not-having-a-big-impact-covid-drug-fails-to-beat-placebo-in-major-trial-20221010-p5bohc.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sydney Morning Herald</a> reporting that 301,000 courses of the antiviral were purchased in late 2021, before it was approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). But, this isn’t the first time we’ve secured large amounts of a drug that later proved less effective than we expected. “This is exactly what happened with Tamiflu (the antiviral used to treat influenza),” Professor White says. “Australia and many other countries bought millions of dollars worth of Tamiflu, which never got used. And then five years later, some clinical trials that weren’t published got released … and it was shown that they released the good (results) in the earlier trials and this drug isn’t as effective as we first thought.” While we might be scrambling to find the next best treatment as soon as we can, Professor White says that developing effective drugs takes time - and that drugs specifically targeting Covid’s polymerase and protease enzymes will be the most effective. “That’s the problem we’ve got at the moment. We’ve got repurposed drugs for other viruses, and maybe they work a little bit and they’ve been approved because we’ve got nothing else as yet,” he says. “But this is not the end of the story. This is not the true, good drug that we could actually find. “We could do a lot better, but we’re going to have to wait a couple of years.” Image: Getty Images

Body

“Less is more”: Skin doctor shares her holy grail skincare routine

A skin and cosmetic doctor has shared her holy grail skincare routine that focuses on a “less is more” approach for more mature skin. Dr Imaan Joshi, 49, only began her foray into the complicated world of skincare when she was 42, and now had refined her routine to work in her favour. Dr Joshi only cleanses once each day, uses a handful of serums in the morning and puts on hyaluronic acid and retinol before bed. Chatting with <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/beauty/article-11300931/Skin-doctor-shares-products-uses-face-everyday.html">Femail</a>, she admitted she prefers the “wash and wear” approach to achieving healthy skin. “You don’t need 10 steps or whatever to get the job done if you use targeted personalised stuff for you and stop following fads and trends,” she said. “Most of my patients are busy with hectic lifestyles. Keeping it simple means they’re more likely to stick to their routines rather than skip it completely because it’s too hard.” She also says looking after your skin isn't about “looking younger”, but rather about looking healthier. “I think my skin looks better but the goal is never to look younger. I’m not trying to pass as younger, that’s an unintended consequence if it happens, not the goal,” she said. As well as her five minute a day routine in the mornings and evenings, Dr Joshi also likes to do monthly laser and chemical peels, and an 'anti-wrinkle' treatment every three or four months. She also likes to do micro needling or have a deep hydration done twice each year. While she admits these treatments, creams and clinic visits can “all add up”, she says it's important to invest in your skincare the same way you would your physical health. Image credits: Instagram

Beauty & Style

7 tricks to use less phone data – and lower your phone bill

Turn off background app refresh <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/01-background-simple-ways-use-less-data-770.jpg" alt="" width="770" height="514" /> When this feature is enabled, your apps are constantly refreshing so that they can show you the most recent content when opened. This includes email synching, weather widgets updating, and feeds refreshing. For the iPhone: Turn off the background app refresh by going to Settings > General > Background App Refresh. For Android: Go to Settings > Data Usage > Restrict app background data. This will allow you to turn the feature off for all apps or you can pick and choose which ones you want to turn off. Disable apps that use a lot of data <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/02-disable-simple-ways-use-less-data-770.jpg" alt="" width="770" height="514" /> There are certain apps that use more data than others, whether you use them frequently or not. For ones that you don’t use often, turn off cellular data. For the iPhone: Go to Settings > Cellular > then under “Use Cellular Data For” switch certain apps to off. Turn off app updates <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/03-updates-simple-ways-use-less-data-770.jpg" alt="" width="770" height="514" /> If your apps update automatically your phone will start the download whether you are connected to Wi-Fi or not. To turn this off on an iPhone, go to Settings > iTunes & App Stores > turn off Use Cellular Data. For an Android, go to Settings > under General click Auto-update apps > Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only. Then, your apps will only update when you are connected to Wi-Fi. Turn off Wi-Fi assist <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/04-wifi-simple-ways-use-less-data-770.jpg" alt="" width="770" height="514" /> Wi-Fi assist automatically uses your cellular data when the Wi-Fi signal is poor. To disable Wi-Fi assist for an iPhone go to Settings > Cellular > turn off Wi-Fi Assist. Turn off iCloud drive <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/05-icloud-simple-ways-use-less-data-770.jpg" alt="" width="770" height="514" /> When iCloud is enabled it is constantly moving documents in and out of the cloud. Use less cell phone data by turning iCloud off. To do this on the iPhone got to Settings > iCloud > turn off iCloud Drive. Download music <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/06-download-simple-ways-use-less-data-770.jpg" alt="" width="770" height="514" /> When you are on the go, streaming music, podcasts, or videos can really eat away at your data. Both the iPhone and Android phones let you restrict these apps to Wi-Fi only. Turning this setting on will force you to download them when connected to a Wi-Fi network and then allow for data free listening on the move. Turn off cellular data completely <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/07-turn-simple-ways-use-less-data-770.jpg" alt="" width="770" height="514" /> If you know that you are about to reach you data limit or are saving it for the road trip you have coming up, you can simply turn off cellular data. This way, no data will be used, and certain apps will only work if you are connected to a Wi-Fi network. Written by Morgan Cutolo. This article first appeared in <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/culture/7-tricks-to-use-less-phone-data-and-lower-your-phone-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRA87V" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here’s our best subscription offer.</a> Images: NICOLE FORNABAIO/RD.COM

Technology

Being in a couple can leave women with less savings – here’s how to make nest eggs more equal

Growing <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/employment/oecd-employment-outlook-2015_empl_outlook-2015-en">job insecurity</a>, <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/signs-of-worst-year-for-stock-market-investors-in-a-decade-after-wall-street-slips-into-bear-market-and-bitcoin-crashes-12633745">financial market volatility</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/18/uk-pensioners-cost-of-living-crisis">rising prices</a> have created an extremely uncertain environment for UK savers. The country’s welfare provisions are <a href="https://www.oecd.org/unitedkingdom/PAG2017-GBR.pdf">among the lowest</a> of all OECD countries and a growing number of pensioners are finding it difficult to gain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/mar/17/number-of-pensioners-in-relative-poverty-in-uk-up-200000-in-a-year">financial security</a> in later life. Even well-known <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2022/03/20/money-saving-expert-martin-lewis-runs-out-of-advice-on-cost-of-living-crisis-16309470/">money-saving experts</a> have run out of ideas to help those struggling with their finances. In such tough times, people planning for old age must be even more canny about their money to ensure there is enough for a comfortable retirement. Pension planning typically starts with a long-term savings goal to ensure an adequate income during retirement. Then savers usually make regular contributions to suitable investment products in line with this goal over the course of their working lives. Our recent research shows, however, that there are differences in the way people decide on and work towards those goals. We believe these differences may contribute to a wealth gap between men and women in the UK, with more women in danger of being left financially vulnerable than men. The commitment you make when you set a goal essentially motivates you to achieve that goal, according to certain <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022053113000033?casa_token=0_ot9tQqosQAAAAA:Br_9n9OaTKs25D1plcAHmBefoy5suGqafNYG3Ab0FZXhlLd4sLnumW6JHa80ArKHx5zfDGNT">behavioural science</a> theories. In other words, people with ambitious savings goals can be expected to end up with more money in their retirement accounts, compared with those with modest savings goals. Less ambitious savers may not strive to put away more than planned because they believe they will fail. Based on our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/kykl.12294">recent research</a> into long-term savings goals, we believe such differences in attitudes may contribute to the <a href="https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/other/gender-wealth-gap-women-investing">£15 billion wealth gap</a> between men and women. <h2>Growing gender wealth gap</h2> Our study <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/kykl.12294">explores long-term savings goals</a> among 1,760 clients at a well-established UK investment firm, combined with insights from 56 interviews with another group of UK-based men and women savers. It uncovers a third possible explanation for a rising gender wealth gap in the UK, besides income differentials (based on the <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Fjel.20160995&source=post_page---------------------------">gender pay gap</a>, the <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20180010">child penalty</a>, <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/511799?casa_token=icrT0aW2dYUAAAAA%3A7k6cPuNg15qaB6ICZbBe7OO8tffw6404qf-kN-1e5lIVWjNyTlC2MOUD7We4CMNUOVWz8krjIQ">the motherhood penalty</a>) and investment differentials that generally show men earning higher financial returns because they tend to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2008.00201.x?casa_token=Bf3MjE7ar9UAAAAA%3A3lEvIUQjvDM4OaPUTW5tnUkbMAnn8-EZtknAR9Mx98_BNwNttlxF6i7jEYYCGHxr_3b9BLM_UxCr">take more risk</a>. This third reason, our analysis suggests, is that gender norms influence attitudes towards saving. This tends to negatively affect women in couples most of all. We found that men and women who are married or cohabiting tend to strongly diverge when it comes to their chosen savings goals, compared with those who live on their own. More specifically, married or co-habiting men are more likely to be in charge of long-term saving for the household and they typically choose more ambitious personal savings goals. Those higher savings goals were not affected by expected levels of income and so could not be attributed to a gender pay gap. Similarly, we also controlled for varying attitudes toward risk-taking in investment portfolios. <h2>The role of gender norms</h2> So why do men and women in couples save so differently? Our research shows that these differences are linked to the traditional gender roles often assigned to particular members of households. When women are in charge of caring and domestic work such as childcare, grocery shopping and short-term budgeting, there is a tendency to focus on short-term financial security. Perhaps in anticipation of adverse events affecting their daily budget management, these women tend to choose modest savings goals and accessible financial products such as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/individual-savings-accounts">individual savings accounts</a> (ISAs). On the other hand, we found that men in couples tend to choose more ambitious goals and use investment products that are designed for longer-term savings habits and have the potential for <a href="https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/articles/latest-thoughts/retirement/sipp-or-isa-how-do-you-decide#:%7E:text=SIPP%20or%20ISA%3A%20how%20your%20hypothetical%20savings%20might%20grow">better returns</a>. For example, <a href="https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pensions-basics/self-invested-personal-pensions?source=mas">self-invested personal pensions</a> provide more options and control over what you can invest in and when, compared with a standard personal pension or an ISA. Men are also more often assigned to the role of managing long-term investing tasks, according to our research. This encourages a focus on long-term wealth growth and reinforces their willingness to set challenging goals. These findings are intensified within couples with a more “traditional” division of roles - that is, when the man is the breadwinner. For single people, however, men and women perform both the short- and long-term financial tasks and we found no gender differences in savings goals among this type of study participant. This absence of any gender-based effect among the people in our study who are not part of a couple shows a clear need to move beyond simply accepting that all men and women <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2009.00251.x?casa_token=DjyY7QO3AbYAAAAA%3Alqjh1kacbeO6WWPm8a778_QyzCAEYEQ4L5DISL4yRPjIMBh_Vne1e1UkFSyXeIlWpKbDBS9wMJ_V">think differently</a> about saving and investing when discussing retirement planning and financial risk-taking. Exploring the context in which people make financial decisions is much more important. Highlighting when goals are unambitious compared to people with similar wealth and incomes, for example, could reduce the effect of gender norms on financial decisions. In particular, it should be emphasised that, by leaving their male partner to accumulate money for the household, women may increase their financial dependency. In that context, late divorce or separation could have a dramatic effect on financial security for those <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/19/divorce-women-risk-poverty-children-relationship">without legal protection</a>. Given the continued uncertainty around the economic outlook, addressing the gender wealth gap in this way will help to create a more secure future for all UK savers. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/being-in-a-couple-can-leave-women-with-less-savings-heres-how-to-make-nest-eggs-more-equal-186269" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Retirement Income

Rent crisis? Average rents are increasing less than you might think

You wouldn’t know it from the pages of our daily newspapers, but the rate of growth in rents has been pretty modest. Not everywhere, not for everyone, but for most Australians who rent. According to the most recent count used by the Bureau of Statistics to compile the consumer price index, rents increased by only <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release#overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1.6%</a> in the year to June. By comparison, wages climbed <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/wage-price-index-australia/latest-release" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2.6%</a>. Higher increases in other prices pushed the overall consumer price index up <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release" target="_blank" rel="noopener">6.1%</a>. Rent decreases during COVID mean that over the past five years the total increase has been just 1.5%. Average rents are barely any higher than they were at the start of COVID. <hr /> <iframe id="GnFV0" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: initial none initial;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/GnFV0/2/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> <hr /> The Bureau gets its data direct from the computers of real estate agents, state housing authorities and the Department of Defence (for Darwin). It covers rent actually paid, for a “<a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/detailed-methodology-information/concepts-sources-methods/consumer-price-index-concepts-sources-and-methods/2018/price-collection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">matched sample</a>” of dwellings, meaning it refers to the same dwellings each quarter so as to record genuine price changes. Actual versus advertised rents In contrast, the media (and some <a href="https://everybodyshome.com.au/resources/housing-criticalthe-role-of-housing-in-solving-critical-skill-shortages-across-the-regions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interest groups</a>) prefer to focus on the data for “advertised” or asking rents. These have been growing more strongly than the overall mass of rents paid. Nationwide, advertised rents climbed <a href="https://www.corelogic.com.au/news-research/news/2022/residential-rents-hit-record-highs-as-national-vacancy-rates-plummet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">8.2%</a> in the year to June, and by almost 18% over the five years to June on CoreLogic’s data. But advertised rents are only a tiny fraction of the rents actually paid. Not all properties get advertised. Advertised rents don’t always match up with the agreed rent. Most renters remain on existing contracts. Although advertised rents might be expected to relate to overall rents over time, they are not necessarily representative of the entire market. Our main concern ought to be what has happened to low-income renters. Low increases for low-income renters Australia’s lowest-income renters receive rent assistance, which is pretty frugal. Single renters get no more than <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-much-rent-assistance-you-can-get?context=22206" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$73 a week</a>, and very large families up to $97. But the typical rent paid by Australians on rent assistance hasn’t increased much. Over the year to June, the median rent for rent assistance recipients climbed by 1% – roughly $5 per week. Over the past five years it has increased 9% – somewhat less than the increase in the consumer price index of 10.7%. Over the longer term, low-income rents have increased more sharply. Households in the bottom 40% of income distribution used to spend around 22% of their after-tax income on rent, and now spend about 30%, down from a peak of 32%. <hr /> <iframe id="pRiMR" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: initial none initial;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/pRiMR/2/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> <hr /> If there is a crisis in rents, the figures suggest it is not widespread. Rents in locations including Perth and Darwin are climbing much more strongly than others as they come off long periods of negative rent growth. The growth in asking rents is most pronounced away from the cities, in particular in holiday and tree-change destinations such as Richmond-Tweed (including Byron Bay), Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay. Some were experiencing strong growth in asking rents before COVID, which accelerated through COVID. <hr /> <iframe id="JMbb7" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: initial none initial;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/JMbb7/2/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> <hr /> Other regions, including parts of Sydney and Melbourne, have experienced subdued or <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release#overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">negative</a> growth. Across all renting households we are yet to see any serious growth. To date, the “rent crisis” has been felt mainly in a few specific locations and among people looking for new rental properties.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189154/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ben-phillips-98866" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ben Phillips</a>, Associate Professor, Centre for Social Research and Methods, Director, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian National University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/rent-crisis-average-rents-are-increasing-less-than-you-might-think-189154" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Money & Banking

Five easy ways to use less water at home – and not just in a drought

With so much of the world suffering from drought, you might think your ability to help is minimal. But when you consider the average person in the UK uses around <a href="https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/vast-majority-of-brits-have-no-idea-how-much-water-they-use-each-day/">142 litres of water a day</a>, it’s easy to see how small changes to your routine can add up. More than half of the water that is extracted from rivers, streams and aquifers in the UK feeds the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/env15-water-abstraction-tables">public water supply</a>. These abstractions, as they’re called, worsen drought conditions by draining local waterways, depriving vegetation, fish and other aquatic life of the water they need to survive droughts. Filling paddling pools to cool off, taking multiple showers each day to stay clean, watering the garden to revive wilting plants – all these extra activities contribute to a sharp increase in public water use on hot and dry days. And these impacts can endure for months, as freshwater systems need a lot of additional rainfall to recover from droughts. If each person can reduce their water use during a drought, it would significantly benefit the natural world in its recovery. Here are five things you can do, starting today. <h2>1. Shower less</h2> Most of the water you use is <a href="https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/vast-majority-of-brits-have-no-idea-how-much-water-they-use-each-day/">in the shower</a>. For every minute you’re under the shower head (depending on how powerful it is), around 10 litres of water drains away. Since most people shower for <a href="https://www.mirashowers.co.uk/blog/trends/revealed-what-brits-are-really-getting-up-to-in-the-bathroom-1/#:%7E:text=Most%20Brits%20(62%25)%20bathe,latest%20UK%20shower%20habits%20survey.">an average of seven minutes</a>, half of your daily water use takes place first thing in the morning. Turning off the shower while shampooing your hair or applying shower gel can help conserve water, as can shortening the length of your shower overall. Be sure not to switch to a bath though – the average soak in the tub uses <a href="https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/vast-majority-of-brits-have-no-idea-how-much-water-they-use-each-day/">around 80 litres of water</a>. <h2>2. Use rainwater in the garden</h2> During a dry spell, the average gardener can use <a href="https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/siteassets/documents/uwu-0618-web-version.pdf">hundreds of litres</a> of water to keep their plants hydrated. Some people will use a watering can (good), others might leave a sprinkler on all day (bad). Most use drinking water, which is a waste – plants are happy with rain water. Add a water butt that collects the rain which falls on your roof and use it for the garden. To find out how to install one, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jk0lstsu5o">watch this</a>. <h2>3. Use the short flush</h2> Per flush, your toilet uses about <a href="https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/vast-majority-of-brits-have-no-idea-how-much-water-they-use-each-day/">5 litres of water</a>, and up to 10 litres in older models. If available, use the short flush to significantly reduce how much water is wasted. <h2>4. Cut back on car washing</h2> If you need to wash your car, do it the old-fashioned way with a bucket and soap rather than hosing it down. The water contained in a bucket (<a href="https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/vast-majority-of-brits-have-no-idea-how-much-water-they-use-each-day/">roughly 30 litres</a>) is significantly less than the average that flows through a hose (around <a href="https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/siteassets/documents/uwu-0618-web-version.pdf">15 litres per minute</a>). Better yet, avoid washing your car entirely during a drought. <h2>5. Reuse water</h2> If you’re washing vegetables, you could collect the water in a bowl in the sink and later give it to the plants in your house or outside. While you’re waiting for warm water to come out of a tap, use the cold to fill the kettle. Close the tap while you’re lathering your hands with soap or brushing your teeth. Though these are only small savings, they do make a difference over time. Inflatable pools are lovely for cooling down on the hottest days. A cleaning pump can filter the water and recycle it without you needing to use more water to keep the pool clean. <h2>Save water, save money</h2> All these tips can significantly reduce your water use and combat the effects of drought on the environment. They can also save you money. If you’re able to renovate your home, it’s worth installing a system for collecting rain water which, combined with a pump, can flush toilets. In Belgium, for example, it is common practice to have such a system installed (effectively, a large underground water butt) in newly built houses. Most people would struggle to afford these kinds of measures, and so drought-proofing homes and communities should be part of the effort to adapt countries to the extreme weather expected in a rapidly warming world. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-easy-ways-to-use-less-water-at-home-and-not-just-in-a-drought-187885" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Home & Garden

Australian women are less likely to receive pre-hospital stroke care than men

Paramedics are failing to recognise strokes in women as much as they do for men, according to a new <a href="https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/health/women-less-likely-receive-pre-hospital-stroke-care-men" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> of New South Wales stroke patients. Researchers suggest that clinician sex bias might be the cause. In 2018 it was <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/heart-stroke-vascular-diseases/hsvd-facts/contents/heart-stroke-and-vascular-disease-and-subtypes/stroke" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">estimated</a> that 387,000 Australians aged over 15 years had experienced a stroke at some point in their lives. The success of treatment is very time dependent, so it’s critical that patients suffering from stroke are identified as soon as possible, preferably before arriving at hospital. But according to the study by Australian researchers, women (aged under 70) suffering with stroke were less likely than men to receive stroke care management prior to hospital admission – despite being more likely to arrive at hospital by ambulance. This is concerning, as other research shows stroke outcomes are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31719135/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">generally worse</a> for women than men – with greater stroke-related disability and poorer subsequent quality of life. “Our study suggests that better recognition of stroke symptoms in women by ambulance staff could ensure the right treatment is started as early as possible and give them the best opportunity for recovery,” says lead author Dr Xia Wang, research fellow at The George Institute for Global Health in Sydney. There are two types of stroke: ischaemic stroke occurs when a vessel supplying blood to the brain becomes blocked, and haemorrhagic stroke occurs when one ruptures and begins to bleed. This can cause parts of the brain to die – resulting in impairment that can affect things like speech, movement, and communication – or can often be fatal. Thanks to development in medical research <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stroke/treatment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">treatment for stroke</a> is changing, but the efficacy of these treatments is highly time-dependent and rapid and accurate pre-hospital assessment is critical for successful outcomes. “When stroke is not recognised early, delays can have serious consequences,” says co-author Dr Cheryl Carcel, senior research fellow and academic lead of the George Institute’s Global Brain Health Initiative. “Procedures for in-ambulance stroke care ensure patients with stroke symptoms are brought to a high-level specialised facility quickly to receive life-saving treatment.” In a population-based cohort study, researchers analysed data from more than 200,0000 patients (51% women) admitted to NSW hospitals between July 2005 and December 2018 and subsequently diagnosed as having a stroke. Just over half of all stroke patients were taken to hospital via ambulance, with women (52.4%) more likely than men (47.9%) to arrive this way. Despite this, women were less likely to receive stroke care management prior to hospital admission. “Among patients under 70 years of age, women were less likely than men to be assessed by paramedics as having a stroke, but there was no significant difference for older patients,” the authors say. Instead, they were more frequently assessed by paramedics as having conditions which mimic stroke – like headache or migraine, anxiety, and unconsciousness – which contributed to a delay in the recognition and treatment of stroke. There was no significant difference for older patients. Health professionals know that on initial presentation, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31114842/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">atypical clinical symptoms of stroke</a> occur more frequently in women. So, these findings could be due to a difference in symptoms, although it’s also possible that implicit sex bias exists amongst healthcare providers. “While there aren’t any studies looking at clinician sex bias in stroke, we have evidence from other countries where it is happening in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3810172/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coronary artery disease</a>,” explains Carcel. This has also been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002870321001885?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">found</a> to be the case for myocardial infarction (heart attack), with women less likely to be assessed by paramedics as having MI than men. “Greater awareness among all health professionals about differences in symptom presentation between men and women could help address this bias,” concludes Carcel. “In the case of stroke, this is particularly important for ambulance staff, so that women are identified early and treatment is commenced even before they reach the hospital.” This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/australian-women-stroke-care/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos</a>. Image: Getty

Caring

You’re less likely to die if you’re treated in your own language

<div> Hospital patients who speak the same language as their physicians end up healthier, according to new research. The study, which was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.212155" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that hospital patients had shorter stays and were less likely to die, fall, or catch infections during their treatment if they had a physician speaking their language. The researchers examined medical records for home-care care recipients in Ontario, Canada, between 2010 and 2018. In total, they looked at 189,690 records. A third of Ontario’s population doesn’t speak English as a first language. Among these home-care recipients, 84% were English speakers (Anglophones), 13% spoke French (Francophones) and 2.7% spoke other languages (Allophones). The researchers examined whether these patients were treated by a physician who spoke their first language (language concordant) or didn’t (language discordant). “We found that patients who received language-discordant care had more adverse events (such as falls and infections), longer hospital stays and were more likely die in hospital,” the researchers told Cosmos over email. Francophones treated by a French speaker were 24% less likely to die, while Allophones’ chances of death dropped by 54% when they had language-concordant care. The authors float a few reasons for this disparity. Previous studies have shown that better patient-physician communication leads to faster and more accurate diagnoses, and more patient cooperation – both of which have better health outcomes on average. Language discordance, on the other hand, correlates to cultural differences between patients and healthcare workers, which is typically bad for patients. “These are staggering findings that make a strong case for providing care in the same language for linguistic minorities in hospitals,” says co-author Dr Peter Tanuseputro, a physician scientist in the Department of Medicine of The Ottawa Hospital, Institut du Savoir Montfort and Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario. “It’s clearly easier to convey important information about your health in your primary language. Regardless, the more than doubling in odds of serious harms, including death, for patients receiving care in a different language is eye-opening.” Just 44% of Francophones and under 2% of Allophones received care from physicians who spoke their language. For comparison, 58% of physicians in the study spoke English exclusively. “We expect these disparities to be more pronounced in linguistically diverse populations for the following reason: the odds of receiving care from a physician who speaks your primary language decreases if there are more linguistic groups in the population,” the researchers told Cosmos. “We believe that the results of our study highlight the importance of identifying patients who live in minority language communities so that appropriate strategies can be implemented to increase the provision of language-concordant care to these patients.” This means hospitals should ask patients what languages they speak, establish directories of their staff’s language proficiencies, refer patients to doctors who share their languages, and use professional interpreters. “Furthermore, a healthcare system’s ability to provide language-concordant care depends on the languages spoken by physicians, which should match that of the general population,” say the researchers. “This could be optimised by recruiting physicians with specific language proficiencies, and by dedicating resources to increase opportunities for medical education among minority language communities.” Image credits: Getty Images </div> <div id="contributors"> This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/language-hospitals-care/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com </a>and was written by Ellen Phiddian. </div>

Mind

E-cigarettes are less effective at helping smokers to quit

<div><div class="copy">Sales of <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/society/twelve-myths-about-e-cigarettes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">e-cigarettes</a> – particularly those with high nicotine content, similar to traditional cigarettes – skyrocketed in the US in 2017. Proponents of e-cigarettes say this jump in sales should lead to a jump in those quitting smoking, pointing to some clinical trials as evidence of this.Unfortunately, this didn’t work out in practice. According to a new <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056901" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">paper</a> in BMJ Tobacco Control, e-cigarettes were linked to lower success rates for those who tried to quit smoking, and they weren’t any better at preventing relapses.The study examines data from a US national long-term study on smoking. The researchers looked specifically at data from 2017-2019, on 3,578 established smokers who’d recently tried to quit and 1,323 recent former smokers.“We found little evidence that smokers took part in the 2017 surge in e-cigarette sales, which was associated with the introduction of the high-nicotine JUUL e-cigarette,” says co-author Professor John Pierce, a researcher at UC San Diego and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Centre, US.“This is the first survey in which e-cigarettes were less popular as a smoking cessation aid than FDA-approved pharmaceutical aids. Not only were e-cigarettes not as popular, but they were associated with less successful quitting.”In 2017, over 12% of recent quitters reported using e-cigarettes to quit – either by themselves or with other aids. About 2.5% used other tobacco products, and 21% used pharmaceutical aids or <a href="https://www.cancer.org/healthy/stay-away-from-tobacco/guide-quitting-smoking/nicotine-replacement-therapy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nicotine</a><a href="https://www.cancer.org/healthy/stay-away-from-tobacco/guide-quitting-smoking/nicotine-replacement-therapy.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> replacement therapy</a>. Almost two-thirds of respondents (64%) didn’t use anything.By 2019, those who had used e-cigarettes were less likely to have successfully quit than those who’d gone cold-turkey – 10% versus 19%. In this study, “successful quitting” was defined as having gone 12 months without using tobacco products.However, the number of respondents who were using or planning to use e-cigarettes to quit had nearly doubled – to 22% of all respondents.The researchers stress that their study is observational – this data can’t show that e-cigarettes are the cause for these failed quitting attempts. But they do point out that their real-world data sits in contrast to other randomised clinical trials, which tend to slightly favour e-cigarettes over other quitting methods.“RCTs [randomised clinical trials] are usually conducted under optimal conditions, which means that they may not translate to the effectiveness of the product in community settings,” point out the authors in their paper.Image credits: Getty Images <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="height: 1px!important;width: 1px!important;border: 0!important" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=181614&title=E-cigarettes+are+less+effective+at+helping+smokers+to+quit" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /> </div><div id="contributors">This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/body-and-mind/e-cigarettes-us-study-less-effective/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Ellen Phiddian. </div></div>

Mind

Technology has made buildings less climate-friendly: but we can look back in time for solutions

It’s been <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/10/04/new-technology-answer-climate-change-not-targets/">claimed</a> that technology is the answer to the climate crisis. By eventually separating economic growth from its effects on the environment through improving energy efficiency, the argument runs, better technology promises to prevent <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-end-to-the-damage-humans-can-wreak-on-the-climate-this-is-how-bad-its-likely-to-get-166031">catastrophic</a> global warming. But among the many things that this argument fails to consider is the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13563467.2019.1598964">reality</a> that new technology has often encouraged extravagant forms of consumption: from private cars and planes to kitchens full of appliances and air conditioning in countries with mild climates. Technology has also caused what’s called the “<a href="https://esrc.ukri.org/about-us/50-years-of-esrc/50-achievements/the-rebound-effect/">rebound effect</a>”: where improving energy efficiency leads to cheaper energy and therefore higher rates of energy consumption. For example, buying a more fuel-efficient car will reduce your average fuel cost per trip and thus is likely to lead to more trips, taking away at least some of your anticipated energy savings. A similar trend appears in architecture, where advances in artificial cooling, heating and computer-aided design have – rather than creating more efficient designs – actually introduced <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/667480/from-waste-to-resource-productivity-evidence-case-studies.pdf">wasteful</a> building styles. In <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2093761X.2016.1237397">my work</a>, I call this phenomenon the “architectural rebound effect”. This effect becomes especially clear when we look at how <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/tag/facades/">building façades</a> (the “skin” that covers buildings) have evolved over the past 100 years. <h2>Façade failures</h2> The <a href="https://cris.brighton.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/379433/CdR+Final+Diaz+%26+Southall+Published+Version.pdf">Cité de Refuge</a> residential building in Paris, designed by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier in 1933, boasts one of the earliest examples of a façade made entirely out of glass. But with no windows or air conditioning, its summer indoor temperatures reached up to <a href="https://lmdvlugtdml.wordpress.com/home/lmd-words/miscellaneous-writings-and-publications/le-corbusiers-cite-de-refuge-historical-technological-performance-of-the-air-exacte/">33°C</a> – making it a “<a href="https://cris.brighton.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/379433/CdR+Final+Diaz+%26+Southall+Published+Version.pdf">notable failure</a>” in architecture. To fix this, the façade was fitted with external shading devices and about a third of its glass was made opaque. This strategy was mostly effective: computer simulations have shown that the upgraded design reduced indoor summer temperatures to <a href="https://cris.brighton.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/379433/CdR+Final+Diaz+%26+Southall+Published+Version.pdf">below 25°C</a>. From the 1950s, fully glazed façades without shading devices began to dominate city skylines thanks to increasingly efficient and cheap <a href="https://archive.curbed.com/2017/5/9/15583550/air-conditioning-architecture-skyscraper-wright-lever-house">air-conditioning systems</a> that allowed temperatures inside these buildings to be regulated. But these new glass boxes came with their own set of environmental problems. For instance, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13602360903119405">research</a> has shown that office buildings built in the Manhattan borough of New York between 1965 and 1969 consumed twice as much energy per unit floor area than buildings erected between 1950 and 1954. One reason for this is probably the difference in the window-to-wall ratio between these groups of buildings. While the later buildings had a ratio between 53% and 72%, the earlier buildings’ ratio sat between 23% to 32%. This means that more heat was allowed into and out of the former group of buildings during summer and winter, increasing their need for artificial cooling and heating. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437794/original/file-20211215-21-f60i8n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="An apartment building with red, yellow and blue external features" /> The Cité de Refuge after its refurbishment, with external shades and opaque glass. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cit%C3%A9_de_Refuge.jpg" class="source">IanTomFerry/Wikimedia</a> Another problem with fully glazed façades is the excessive glare they cause inside buildings, which means that indoor blinds must be pulled down most of the time. This blocks occupants’ views to the outside and increases reliance on artificial lighting, increasing energy consumption even further. These problems with fully glazed façades still plague buildings today. Now, parametrically designed shading devices are often used as a solution. Unfortunately, these tend to block outdoor views for those working inside, while keeping the need for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0038092X12002046">artificial light</a>. <h2>Limiting freedoms</h2> Should we prevent architects from exercising their aesthetic freedom in designing these extravagant buildings that harm our planet? One solution could be to set a maximum limit on the amount of energy a building is allowed to consume. This would require architects to use <a href="https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/sustainable-architecture/a3992-what-are-passive-design-strategies/">passive design strategies</a> – techniques that enable humans to live in challenging climates without expending unnecessary energy. For example, by the year 400 BC, Persians had devised an ingenious way to <a href="http://jfa.arch.metu.edu.tr/archive/0258-5316/2012/cilt29/sayi_2/223-234.pdf">store ice</a> during hot summer months using ice pits called “yakhchals”. These were vaulted reservoirs with a height of up to 15 metres and a depth of approximately six metres. By allowing hot air to exit through an opening at the top of the reservoir and burying ice deep in the earth, the base of the yakhchal – and the ice inside – would <a href="https://www.maxfordham.com/research-innovation/the-physics-of-freezing-at-the-iranian-yakhchal/">remain cold</a> throughout the summer. An example from the modern era is the <a href="http://thegreentreefoundation.org/energy_concious_building/case_studies.pdf">Inspector General of Police Complex</a> building in Gulbarga, India, which uses a wind tower fitted with water sprays to create a comfortable environment in a hot and humid climate. Droplets from the sprays absorb heat from incoming air, reducing the air’s temperature by up to 13°C before it enters the building. It’s vital to first decide how best to measure buildings’ maximum energy limit. In current building energy rating schemes, “<a href="https://aiacalifornia.org/energy-use-intensity-eui/">energy use intensity</a>” is often used, which refers to the amount of energy consumed per unit of floor area. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437800/original/file-20211215-25-1v88ihf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A brick building in the desert" /> This yakhchal in Iran was used to keep ice cool. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iran_desert,_yakh-chal_(%D9%89%D8%AE_%DA%86%D8%A7%D9%84_en_persan)_,_goat_herd_-_glaci%C3%A8re,_troupeau_de_ch%C3%A8vres_(9261276542).jpg" class="source">Jeanne Menj/Wikimedia</a> But a flaw of this metric is that it allows overly large, grandiose buildings to be certified as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUuVoMCVwQo&ab_channel=InternationalPassiveHouseAssociation">low energy</a>. A more appropriate metric could focus on energy consumed in relation to the number of people using a building – in other words, a building’s energy use per person. <h2>Making masterpieces</h2> A possible objection is that this could result in “boring” buildings with no aesthetic appeal. In this case, we could encourage architects to express their creativity through building structures not designed to house people and therefore require little to no operational energy to run. This would considerably reduce the environmental impact of such architectural masterpieces. On average, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378778810001696">80% to 90%</a> of a building’s carbon emissions arise from operating it, not building it. What’s more, many iconic buildings have failed to function as they were designed to. Mies von der Rohe’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/aug/30/curse-mies-van-der-rohe-puddle-strewn-gallery-david-chipperfield-berlin-national">New National Gallery</a> in Berlin suffered from cracking windows and heavy condensation, while Frank Gehry’s MIT-based <a href="https://www.wired.com/2007/11/mit-sues-frank/">Stata Centre</a> in Massachusetts has leaky roofs and excessive mould. These buildings have not been demolished, however, but left standing as examples of top-quality design. Perhaps if architects channelled their desire for daring aesthetic into sculpture-like structures rather than buildings designed for habitation, they could continue to keep pushing the limits of design without making the planet pay.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169551/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bashar-al-shawa-1263266">Bashar Al Shawa</a>, PhD Student in Architecture, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-bath-1325">University of Bath</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/technology-has-made-buildings-less-climate-friendly-but-we-can-look-back-in-time-for-solutions-169551">original article</a>. Image: Micuradu/Flickr

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Australian forests will store less carbon as climate change worsens and severe fires become more common

Eucalypt forests are well known for bouncing back after fire, and the green shoots that emerge from eucalypts stems as they begin their first steps to recovery provide some of the most iconic images of the Australian bush. Resprouting allows trees to survive and quickly start photosynthesising again, which keeps carbon “alive” and stored in the tree. On the other hand, if a tree dies and slowly rots, <a href="https://theconversation.com/decaying-forest-wood-releases-a-whopping-10-9-billion-tonnes-of-carbon-each-year-this-will-increase-under-climate-change-164406">the carbon stored in the tree is released into the atmosphere</a> as a source of greenhouse gas emissions. But <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112721010100">our new research</a> finds more frequent, severe bushfires and a hotter, drier climate may limit eucalypt forests’ ability to resprout and reliably lock up carbon. This could seriously undermine our efforts to mitigate climate change. Our findings paint a cautionary tale of a little known challenge posed by climate change, and gives us yet another reason to urgently and drastically cut global emissions. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435821/original/file-20211206-25-9ok01m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Eucalypt forest recovery up to four years after severe bushfire north of Heyfield. T Fairman <h2>We need forests to fight climate change</h2> At the international climate summit in Glasgow last month, more than 100 nations pledged to end and reverse deforestation. This put a much-needed spotlight on the importance of the world’s forests in <a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/what-cop26-means-forests-climate">storing carbon to mitigate climate change</a>. Victoria’s national parks alone store almost <a href="https://www.delwp.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/416408/8-Carbon-factsheet-FINAL.pdf">1 billion tonnes</a> of carbon dioxide equivalent. For perspective, that’s roughly a decade’s worth of Victoria’s net CO₂ emissions in 2019 (<a href="https://www.climatechange.vic.gov.au/victorias-greenhouse-gas-emissions">91.3 million tonnes</a>). Australia’s forests have forged a tight relationship with bushfire. But climate change is already changing – and will continue to change – <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-black-summer-of-fire-was-not-normal-and-we-can-prove-it-172506">the size, severity and frequency of bushfires</a>. In Victoria, for example, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.13292">over 250,000 hectares have been burned</a> by at least two severe fires in just 20 years. This unprecendented frequency has led to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ash-to-ashes-what-could-the-2013-fires-mean-for-the-future-of-our-forests-12346">decline</a> of <a href="https://www.3cr.org.au/lostinscience/episode-202110140830/reseeding-victorian-forests-after-bushfire-and-nobel-prizes">fire sensitive forests</a>, such as the iconic alpine ash. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435826/original/file-20211206-15-152s50j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Extensive wildfires that have burned in Victoria between 2000 and 2020 have overlapped, resulting in large areas of forest being burned by multiple severe fires in that period. Geary et al, 2021 While resprouting eucalypts can be <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2745.13227">resilient to periodic fires</a>, we know surprisingly little about how they’ll <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-testing-the-resilience-of-native-plants-to-fire-from-ash-forests-to-gymea-lilies-167367">respond to</a> increasingly common severe fires, particularly when combined with factors like drought. Early evidence shows <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479718311496">resprouting can fail when fire is too frequent</a>, as seen in <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/recurring-fires-are-threatening-the-iconic-snow-gum">snow gum forests</a> in the Victorian alps. Understanding why is an <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pce.14176">area of active research</a>, but reasons could include damaged resprouting buds (as their protective bark is thinned by successive fires), or the depletion of the trees’ energy reserves. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436259/original/file-20211208-27-k7kmvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Snow gum forest killed and burned by three successive severe fires in ten years in the Alpine National Park. T Fairman <h2>Forests burned by two fires stored half the carbon</h2> If resprouting after fire begins to fail, what might this mean for carbon stores in widespread fire-tolerant eucalypt forests? <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112721010100">In our new paper</a>, we tackled this question by measuring carbon stored in Victoria’s dry eucalypt forests. We targeted areas that had been burned once or twice by severe bushfire within just six years. In these places, severe fires usually occur decades apart. In general, we found climate change impacts resprouting forests on two fronts: <ol> <li> as conditions get warmer and drier, these forests will store less carbon due to reduced growth </li> <li> as severe fires become more frequent, forests will store less carbon, with more trees dying and becoming dead wood. </li> </ol> <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435823/original/file-20211206-15-qhxm3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Our study forest type in West Gippsland, and the effects of one and two severe fires within six years. In the frequently burned site, nearly all trees had their epicormic buds killed and all resprouting occurred from the base of the trees. T Fairman First, we found carbon stores were lower in the drier and hotter parts of the landscape than the cooler and wetter parts. This makes sense - as any gardener knows, plants grow much better where water is plentiful and it’s not too hot. When frequent fire was added to the mix, forest carbon storage reduced even further. At warmer and drier sites, a forest burned by two severe fires had about half as much carbon as a forest burned by a single severe fire. More trees were killed with more frequent fire, which means what was once “living carbon” becomes “dead carbon” - which will rot and be a source of emissions. In fact, after two fires, less than half of the forest carbon was stored in living trees. The carbon stored in large living trees is an important stock and is usually considered stable, <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eap.2383">given larger trees are generally more resilient to disturbance</a>. But we found their carbon stocks, too, significantly declined with more frequent fire. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436256/original/file-20211208-27-1jcp4sn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Victoria’s high country, recovering from multiple fires in the last 20 years. T Fairman <h2>What do we do about it?</h2> Given how widespread this forest type is in southern Australia, we need a better understanding of how it responds to frequent fires to accurately account for changes in their carbon stocks. We also must begin exploring new ways to manage our forests. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/4/3/61">Reinstating Indigenous fire management</a>, including traditional burning practices, and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00049158.2021.1894383">active forest management</a> may mitigate some of the impacts we’ve detected. We could also learn from and adapt <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fee.2218">management approaches</a> in the dry forests of North America, where the new concept of “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/jof/article/119/5/520/6279705">pyro-silviculture</a>” is being explored. Pyro-silviculture can include <a href="https://theconversation.com/forest-thinning-is-controversial-but-it-shouldnt-be-ruled-out-for-managing-bushfires-130124">targeted thinning</a> to reduce the density of trees in forests, which can lower their susceptibility to drought, and encourage the growth of large trees. It can also involve controlled burns to reduce the severity of future fires. With the next, inevitable fire season on Australia’s horizon, such approaches are essential tools in our management kit, ensuring we can build better resilience in forest ecosystems and stabilise these crucial stocks of carbon.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173233/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tom-fairman-13940">Tom Fairman</a>, Future Fire Risk Analyst, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/craig-nitschke-1111728">Craig Nitschke</a>, Associate Professor - Forest and Landscape Dynamics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-bennett-131892">Lauren Bennett</a>, Associate Professor - Ecosystem Sciences and Forest Carbon, The University of Melbourne This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-forests-will-store-less-carbon-as-climate-change-worsens-and-severe-fires-become-more-common-173233">original article</a>. Image: T Fairman

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10 ways to get better fuel mileage – and pay less at the pumps

Get better fuel mileage by driving slower Hard acceleration in stop-and-go driving costs you 20 per cent in fuel mileage. If you live your life in rush hour traffic and like to put the pedal to the metal, spend all your extra time at the next traffic light figuring out how you could have spent the money you’re wasting. Get better fuel mileage by keeping your tyres at the right pressure Surveys show that 60 per cent of the vehicles on the road have tyres that are under-inflated by at least 30 per cent. That’s at least 9 psi below the manufacturer’s recommended pressure. That can cost you almost 7 per cent in wasted petrol. Plus, low air pressure causes premature tyre wear, and that can cost almost $300 over the life of the tyres. For best results, check your tyre’s air pressure with a digital pressure gauge (from any auto parts store) and fill to the recommended pressure shown on the decal inside the driver’s door or on the driver’s door pillar. Save on fuel by changing spark plugs If your 160,000-km spark plugs have 130,000 km on them, they’re 80 per cent worn. Misfires and incomplete combustion occur more frequently during that last 32,000km, costing you hundreds of dollars in wasted fuel. You have to replace your spark plugs anyway, so do it early and pocket the savings. Even if you have to replace the plugs one extra time over the life of your car, you’ll still come out way ahead. And don’t automatically assume your plugs are good for 160,000km. Many four-cylinder engines require new spark plugs at either 50,000- or 100,000-km intervals. Get better fuel mileage by changing your air filter Your engine sucks in 53-million litres of air through the filter every year. On older vehicles (pre-1999), a dirty air filter increases fuel usage by almost 10 per cent. On newer vehicles, the computer is smart enough to detect the lower airflow, and it cuts back on fuel. So your engine will lack power and pick-up. Check the filter when you change your oil and replace it at least once a year, or more if you drive in dirty, dusty conditions. Save on fuel by keeping your car aligned If your tyres are bowed out of alignment by just 4.2cm, it’s the equivalent of dragging your tyre sideways for 164km for every 32,000 you drive. That’ll cost you hundreds a year in wasted fuel. It will also wear your tyres faster, costing you hundreds more. Here’s an easy way to check your alignment without taking your car in to the shop: Buy a tread depth gauge and measure the tread depth on both edges of each tyre (rear tyres too). If one side of the tyre is worn more than the other, your car needs to be aligned. Get better fuel mileage by replacing a broken or missing spoiler The plastic air dam (aka “spoiler”) that’s broken or missing wasn’t installed just for a sporty look. If your car had an air dam, driving without it or with a damaged one can reduce your fuel mileage. The air dam literally “dams off” airflow to the undercarriage of your car, forcing the air up and over the hood. That helps your car cut through the air with less drag. It also increases airflow to the A/C condenser and radiator, reducing the load on your car’s electrical system. Get better fuel mileage by reducing drag Yes, you’ve heard it before, but how about some real world numbers to drive the point home? Aerodynamic drag is a minor concern in city driving, but it really kills your petrol mileage at speeds over 90km/h. In fact, increasing your speed to 105km/h increases drag by 36 per cent! If you do a lot of highway driving, getting to your destination a few minutes early could cost you hundreds of dollars extra a year. Keep it closer to 90km/h and use your cruise control. It will pay off. Get better fuel mileage by replacing oxygen sensors before the dashboard warning light goes on Oxygen sensors monitor the efficiency of combustion by tracking the amount of oxygen remaining in the exhaust. But they degrade over time and that can cost you up to 15 per cent in fuel mileage. When they fail, the computer lights up your “service engine soon” light, forcing you to incur a diagnostic fee. (Here’s why you should never ignore your car’s check engine light.) On pre-1996 vehicles, replace your oxygen sensor every 96,000km to keep your mileage at its peak. On 1996 and newer vehicles, replace the sensors every 160,000km. Oxygen sensors vary in cost, from around $65 to over $300. Some vehicles have as many as four, but the sensors installed behind the catalytic converter rarely fail. Replace your cabin air filter A clogged cabin air filter can damage your car’s blower motor and cause your AC to run longer and harder in the summer. Cabin air filters are easy to access and replace and you’ll save money by doing it yourself. Buy a replacement cabin air filter at any auto parts store and ask the retailer to print out the installation instructions. Cabin air filters are usually located in the air ducts behind the glove box in late model vehicles. However, some car makers locate them in the cowling or console area. Just remove the access covers and slide out the old filter. Note the direction of the airflow arrows so you can install the new filter in the proper orientation. Then reinstall the covers and you’re done. Keep an eye on warning lights Pay attention to your dashboard warning lights. Car owners think a glowing check engine light isn’t important because it just means you’ve got an “emissions problem.” Guess what? Emissions problems are almost always caused by an incomplete burn and that means you’re not getting the most bang for your buck. In other words, a check light means you’re wasting fuel. Worse yet, all that extra fuel goes right into your expensive catalytic converter, causing it to fail early. A new catalytic converter can be expensive to replace and then you STILL have to fix the underlying problem that turned on the check engine light in the first place. Many times the check engine light comes on due to a bum sensor or vacuum leak. Replacing a sensor or fixing a vacuum leak can save far more than what you’ll waste in reduced fuel economy. This article first appeared in <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/food-home-garden/money/12-ways-to-get-better-fuel-mileage-and-pay-less-at-the-pumps" target="_blank">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a rel="noopener" href="http://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRA87V" target="_blank">here’s our best subscription offer.</a> Image: Getty Images <img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" />

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How much weight do you actually need to lose? It might be a lot less than you think

Trying to spend less on food? Following the dietary guidelines might save you $160 a fortnight

The cost of living is biting. Here’s how to spend less on meat and dairy

Five easy ways to use less water at home – and not just in a drought

Why smart people prefer fewer friends

Female artists earn less than men. Coming from a diverse cultural background incurs even more of a penalty – but there is good news, too

One of Australia’s smallest homes sells for less than $100K

Gender pension gap: why women save less - and why that’s changing dramatically

Covid antiviral found to be “less effective” than placebo

“Less is more”: Skin doctor shares her holy grail skincare routine

7 tricks to use less phone data – and lower your phone bill

Being in a couple can leave women with less savings – here’s how to make nest eggs more equal

Rent crisis? Average rents are increasing less than you might think

Five easy ways to use less water at home – and not just in a drought

Australian women are less likely to receive pre-hospital stroke care than men

You’re less likely to die if you’re treated in your own language

E-cigarettes are less effective at helping smokers to quit

Technology has made buildings less climate-friendly: but we can look back in time for solutions

Australian forests will store less carbon as climate change worsens and severe fires become more common

10 ways to get better fuel mileage – and pay less at the pumps

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Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

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How much weight do you actually need to lose? It might be a lot less than you think

Trying to spend less on food? Following the dietary guidelines might save you $160 a fortnight

The cost of living is biting. Here’s how to spend less on meat and dairy

Five easy ways to use less water at home – and not just in a drought

Why smart people prefer fewer friends

Female artists earn less than men. Coming from a diverse cultural background incurs even more of a penalty – but there is good news, too

One of Australia’s smallest homes sells for less than $100K

Gender pension gap: why women save less - and why that’s changing dramatically

Covid antiviral found to be “less effective” than placebo

“Less is more”: Skin doctor shares her holy grail skincare routine

7 tricks to use less phone data – and lower your phone bill

Being in a couple can leave women with less savings – here’s how to make nest eggs more equal

Rent crisis? Average rents are increasing less than you might think

Five easy ways to use less water at home – and not just in a drought

Australian women are less likely to receive pre-hospital stroke care than men

You’re less likely to die if you’re treated in your own language

E-cigarettes are less effective at helping smokers to quit

Technology has made buildings less climate-friendly: but we can look back in time for solutions

Australian forests will store less carbon as climate change worsens and severe fires become more common

10 ways to get better fuel mileage – and pay less at the pumps

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