By 65 years ofage 85 per cent of men and 90 per cent of women are grandparents
Posted in General on 20. Aug, 2010
By 65 years ofage, 85 per cent of men and 90 per cent of women are grandparents.”Grandparents are an important resource. It is clear that most of them are actively involved in looking after young grandchildren,” said Dr Emily Grundy, a reader in social gerontology at the CPS and co-author of the research. “However, there is much less contact between the grandparents and grandchildren who are grown up. The proportion of grandparents who get any help from them is less than 20 per cent.”The study of more than 3,500 people, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, shows that on average grandparenthood comes four years earlier for people from manual and social groups compared with those from professional occupations.
Two-thirds of grandmothers and 52 per cent of grandfathers see their eldest grandchild at least once a week.. A village divided over whether the name of a disgraced First World War soldier should be inscribed on its war memorial will vote on the issue today in a referendum organised by its vicar. A village divided over whether the name of a disgraced First World War soldier should be inscribed on its war memorial will vote on the issue today in a referendum organised by its vicar.
Each of the 1,700 inhabitants of Shoreham, a picturesque commuter village near Sevenoaks, Kent, will be invited to answer “yes” or “no” to the question: Do you think that Thomas Highgate’s name should be included on Shoreham war memorial?Highgate, 19, a private in the Royal West Kent Regiment, became the first Great War soldier to be shot for desertion, on 8 September 1914, after he was found cowering in a shed far from the front line in France.The referendum follows a fierce debate in Shoreham, where the local branch of the Royal British Legion is refurbishing the village memorial. At a meeting last November, the legion was evenly divided over the move to include Highgate’s name. An attempt by the parish council to adjudicate also failed when it was decided that the memorial was the legion’s responsibility.In an attempt to resolve the issue, Shoreham’s vicar, the Rev Barry Simmons, has offered his church as the polling station for today’s vote. Mr Simmons, 67, padre of the Shoreham branch of the legion, said: “There is talk that Parliament may grant those shot at dawn a pardon but, even if it does, it is still the villages and towns around the country who are going to have to solve the memorial problem. I believe we should grasp a privileged opportunity to speak to the nation on what is a very difficult issue.”Events took an unexpected turn with the discovery that Highgate is already commemorated on a war memorial just 12 miles away in Sidcup.His name was found during research by Michael Hankins, an amateur historian.
Knowing of the furore in Shoreham, Mr Hankins devoted weeks of work to finding out how Highgate’s name had been included on the Sidcup memorial. What he uncovered was a family tragedy and, possibly, some deliberate disinformation provided by Highgate’s mother, Alice.Alongside Thomas’s name on the Sidcup memorial are those of his brothers, L/Cpl Robert Highgate, 24, who was killed in action in France on 3 January 1915, and Pte Joseph Highgate, who died of wounds on 6 June 1916, at the age of 19.Mr Hankins then tracked down a copy of the Sidcup and District Times of 23 June 1916, which told the story of how three of Alice Highgate’s five serving sons had been killed in action. Significantly the newspaper report contained two errors: it said Thomas had died “last year” and that he “went to the front early in the campaign with the East Surreys”.Mr Hankins said: “All three Highgates were regular soldiers and it is inconceivableto me that the family could have got Thomas Highgate’s regiment or year of death wrong unless they were trying to blur things.”The names on the memorials after the war were simply put forward by the families of the dead. And once Thomas Highgate was on record as serving in the East Surreys and dying in 1915 rather than 1914 … no link was made with Thomas Highgate of Shoreham, shot at dawn for desertion from the West Kents.”. The Government backed “zero-tolerance” plans to clamp down on beggars yesterday and warned that police would get more powers to deal with the problem if they needed them. The Government backed “zero-tolerance” plans to clamp down on beggars yesterday and warned that police would get more powers to deal with the problem if they needed them.
The Home Office minister Paul Boateng said it was “unacceptable” that Romanians were begging on the streets and the Tube in London.
He said he was confident the police already had sufficient powers to deal with the issue, but stressed he was ready to look at toughening the law.”Nobody has an excuse to beg in this aggressive fashion and the police have the powers to deal with it,” said Mr Boateng. “If the police come back to us and tell us that they don’t have sufficient powers, then of course we will look – because as a matter of criminal justice policy this is an area of concern – we’ll look at making sure they do have sufficient powers.”Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has said he will operate a “zero-tolerance” policy to all beggars, promising to sweep them off the streets, and Mr Boateng said Sir John had his “100 per cent” backing, whatever he decided to do. It wasan operational matter, Mr Boateng said, but chief constables could expect the support of the Home Office in whatever approach they took.The minister added: “There is an increase in the number of gypsies from Eastern Europe on our streets who maintain that this is part of their traditional lifestyle. Well, if it is part of their traditional lifestyle then it isn’t acceptable in this country and the police and the courts – backed up by the Government – will bring that message home to them.”.