The Tangled Woof of Fact #2

“It seemed a little too pat. It had the austere simplicity of fiction rather than the tangled woof of fact.”
— Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep

I read a lot of interesting nerdy things for work and for pleasure — this series of posts shares some of my favourites from any given week.

This week:
😴 It’s too hot to sleep
🍔 Universal Credit seemingly causes food insecurity
💊 Nearly everyone has a pharmacy nearby
… and a not-shit guide to the English language.

😴 Too hot = bad sleeps

Bit scorchio this week, eh? Turns out that anomalously warmer nights are linked to worse sleeps, especially for older people and people on lower incomes.

It’s only going to get hotter more often. Many of us will lose more sleep. And I, for one, will grumble more.

🍔 Universal Credit seemingly causes food insecurity

The UK’s social security system is behind the decade-long rise in use of food banks, according to two research papers. Four elements of the welfare reforms introduced back in 2012 have led to greater food insecurity: a real-terms reduction in the value of benefits; sanctions; the ‘bedroom tax’; and the roll-out of Universal Credit itself.

Not only does it seem like Universal Credit causes food insecurity, but this form of poverty may be hidden in places where food banks are not available.

💊 The ‘positive pharmacy care law’

The ‘inverse care law’ is an old truism stating that good healthcare is less available in poorer places. In happier news, one paper I read this week finds evidence for a ‘positive pharmacy care law’, where nearly one in ten people in the UK can walk to a community pharmacy within 20 minutes.

Impressively, 99.8% of people living in the country’s most deprived areas have relatively easy access to a pharmacy. 99.8%! (Although rural dwellers don’t have it quite so good…)

Finally, the best guide to the English language I’ve ever seen:

Hat tip: @lacquerleaks