Social Sciences

Union representation in British workplaces has continued to decline since 1998, though the rate of decline has slowed compared with recent decades. There has also been a substantial increase in the availability of flexible working arrangements including home-working, term-time only working, flexi-time and job sharing.

These conclusions are based on a wealth of evidence from the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (2004), which is co-sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry, Eco

Women feel pain more than men despite the popular notion that the opposite is true, according to research.

Scientists investigating gender differences in pain have found that not only do women report more pain throughout the course of their lifetime, they also experience it in more bodily areas, more often and for longer duration when compared to men.

There also seem to be differences in how men and women think and feel about their pain. For example, anxiety may affec

Gene pool of the Russian nation may be investigated using people’s surnames instead of genetic markers. This is being performed by Russian researchers supported by the Russian Foundation for the Humanities (RFH) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR).

Researchers use people’s surnames as a special class of genetic markers, with the help of which one can judge of internal diversity of human populations and relative connections between them. In Russia, specialists of

The NHS suffers from an institutional gender bias that favours the progression of men over women according to health professionals.

New research at the University of Liverpool found that men occupy the most authoritative and influential positions in the NHS, with women believing they must assume a more aggressive male ‘career personality’ to achieve success. Those taking part in the study said ‘old boy networks’ are still evident in terms of selection processes for senior positions

Research based on around 25,000 British women employees shows that average level of overall satisfaction with their jobs has been falling for 15 years, according to new findings presented at the Social Policy Association Annual Conference on Monday (27 June 2005).

Women workers used to have significantly higher levels of job satisfaction than men in Britain, but now they have almost the same level as male workers. Men’s job satisfaction has remained constant over the period.

Increasing social inequality in Britain is at the root of rising levels of anti-social behaviour, teenage pregnancy, violence and obesity, according to a University of Nottingham academic.

More than two decades of widening social and economic differences are leaving their mark on Britain, making it one of the most socially unequal of European countries.

A new book published this week by pioneering social epidemiologist, Professor Richard Wilkinson, examines the impact of