blogList

New research findings in a survey by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is showing alarming results for Women in the workplace.Up to 26 million women in major economies could see their jobs displaced within the next two decades, if technology continues at its current rate, the IMF found.On average, women face an 11 percent risk of losing their jobs due to automation, compared to 9 percent of their male counterparts. So while many men are losing their jobs to automation, they estimate that 26 million women’s jobs in 30 countries are at high risk of being displaced by technology within the next 20 years. They found that women’s jobs have a 70 percent or higher probability of automation. This translates globally to 180 million women’s jobs.“We find that women, on average, perform more routine or codifiable tasks than men across all sectors and occupations ― tasks that are more prone to automation,” the report’s authors wrote.“Moreover, women perform fewer tasks requiring analytical input or abstract thinking (e.g., information-processing skills), where technological change can be complementary to human skills and improve labor productivity,” it added.Women at higher risk<ul><li>Women who are 40 and older, and those in clerical, service, and sales positions are disproportionately at risk.</li><li>Nearly 50 percent of women with a high school education, or less, are at high risk of their jobs being automated, compared to 40 percent of men. The risk for women with a bachelor’s degree or higher is 1 percent.</li></ul>Men and women in the United Kingdom and the United States face about the same amount of risk for job automation. In Japan and Israel, women’s jobs are more vulnerable to automation than men’s. Women’s jobs in Finland are less vulnerable to automation than men’s.Opportunities and challengesWomen are currently underrepresented in fields experiencing job growth, such as engineering and information and communications technology. In tech, women are 15 percent less likely than men to be managers and professionals, and 19 percent are more likely to be clerks and service workers performing more routine tasks, which leaves women at a high risk of displacement by technology.More than ever, women will need to break the glass ceiling. Their analysis shows that differences in routineness of job tasks exacerbate gender inequality in returns to labor. Even after taking into account such factors as differences in skill, experience and choice of occupation, nearly 5 percent of the wage gap between women and men is because women perform more routine job tasks. In the US this means women forfeit $26,000 in income over the course of their working life.There are some bright spots. In advanced and emerging economies, which are experiencing rapid aging, jobs are likely to grow in traditionally female-dominated sectors such as health, and social services―jobs requiring cognitive and interpersonal skills and thus less prone to automation. Coping with aging populations will require both more human workers and greater use of artificial intelligence, robotics, and other advanced technologies to complement and boost productivity of workers in healthcare services.Policies that workThey recommend that Governments need to enact policies that foster gender equality and empowerment in the changing landscape of work:<ul><li>Provide women with the right skills. Early investment in women in STEM fields, like the program Girls Who Code in the US, along with peer mentoring, can help break down gender stereotypes and increase women in scientific fields. Tax deductions for training those already in the workforce, like in the Netherlands, and portable individual learning accounts, like in France, could help remove barriers to lifelong learning.</li><li>Close gender gaps in leadership positions. Providing affordable childcare and replacing family taxation with individual taxation, like in Canada and Italy, can play an important role in boosting women’s career progression. Countries can set relevant recruitment and retention targets for organizations, as well as promotion quotas, like in Norway, and establish mentorship and training programs to promote women into managerial positions.</li><li>Bridge the digital gender divide. Governments have a role to play through public investment in capital infrastructure and ensuring equal access to finance and connectivity, like in Finland.</li><li>Ease transitions for workers. Countries can support workers as they change jobs because of automation with training and benefits that are linked to individuals rather than jobs, like the individual training accounts in France and Singapore. Social protection systems will need to adapt to the new forms of work. To address deteriorating income security associated with rapid technological change, some countries may consider expansion of non-contributory pensions and adoption of basic income guarantees may be warranted.</li></ul>Automation has made it even more urgent to step up efforts to level the playing field between men and women, so that all have equal opportunities to contribute to, and benefit from, the new more technology-enabled world.The IMF researchers developed a “routine task intensity” (RTI) index to measure the so-called routineness of various occupations and then broke that down by the gender make-up of each role.On average, the RTI index was 13 percent higher for women workers than men, due to “women typically performing fewer tasks requiring analytical and interpersonal skills or physical labor,” the report said.The index’ results were not uniform, however, the report said.The gender routineness gap was far lower in Central Europe and Scandanavia, while it was among its highest in Japan, the Slovak Republic, Singapore and Estonia. The IMF said that was likely “indicative of countries’ positions along the automation path” as well as long-standing gender biases.Meanwhile, the report also found oldest, less well-educated women to be at the greatest risk of job automation, adding that recent decades have seen more young women shift away from clerical and low-skilled occupations toward service and professional jobs.“Women are increasingly selecting into jobs that are more insulated from displacement by technology,” the report said.“Gender automation gaps between men and women are smaller for younger cohorts even among workers facing the highest risk of automation (e.g., less-well educated, in clerical and sales positions).”

Women Watch those Bots - Your Job May be at Risk!

Director & Ideation Manager

Pamela Doyle

If you happen to pick the right gig, working for just 17.5 hours can make you more money than most people make in their careers.
In 1971, Carolyn Davidson was a graphic design student at Portland State, when she met a man who was teaching accounts at the same university. The man, who was named Phil Knight, wasn’t a full time accounts teacher — he was also running a shoe company on the side. He learnt that she was in search of extra funds to be able to take oil painting classes, so he offered to pay her to do some freelance work. She would get paid $2 per hour for her efforts.
Davidson did some freelance work for the company — which was called Blue Ribbon — for a while. But then Knight had a new assignment. He wanted a logo designed for a new brand he was launching. The brand was to be called Nike.
“What kind of logo do you want?,” Davidson asked Knight. Knight, who wasn’t a big fan of advertising and branding, said he didn’t know. “That gives me a lot to go on,” she said. “Something that evokes a sense of motion,” he told her.
“Two weeks later she came back with a portfolio of rough sketches,” Knight writes in his autobiography. “They were all variations on a single theme, and the theme seemed to be . . . fat lightning bolts? Chubby check marks? Morbidly obese squiggles? Her designs did evoke motion, of a kind, but also motion sickness. None spoke to me,” he said.
But he picked out some designs he did like, and asked her to work on those. “Carolyn returned and spread a second series of sketches across the conference table,” Knight recalls. “She also hung a few on the wall. She’d done several dozen more variations on the original theme, but with a freer hand. These were better. Closer,” he says.
There was one that the management team particularly liked. “It looks like a wing, one of them said. It looks like a whoosh of air, said another. It looks like something a runner might leave in his or her wake, said someone else. “We all agreed it looked new, fresh, and yet somehow—ancient. Timeless,” says Knight.
What Davidson had come up with, of course, what is now known as Nike’s logo. She said she’s worked for 17 and a half hours developing it, so she was given a cheque of $35 and sent on her way. Nike’s founder, though, wasn’t quite convinced with what she’s come up with. “I don’t love it. Maybe it will grow on me,” he’d then said.
The logo might not have appealed immediately to Knight, but it’s done okay since then — it’s been seen at Olympic podiums, at Wimbledon, the US Masters, and on millions of pairs of shoes around the world. And Carolyn Davidson got something more than $35 and the satisfaction of seeing her work become one the world’s most recognizable symbols — in 1983, she was given 500 shares of Nike stock as appreciation for her work. She didn’t immediately sell those shares, and they ended up being worth over $1 million (Rs. 7 crore). Not bad, one would say, for seventeen and a half hours of work.

Nike’s Logo Creator Was Paid $35 For Her Work, But Ended Up A Millionaire

Director & Chief Biscuit Dunker

Sean Breen

DPD to create 150 jobs as it rolls out electric vehicle fleetby John Kennedy - Silicon Republic. Logistics player is on a mission to reduce CO2 emissions by moving to EV fleet.Parcel delivery service DPD Ireland is to create 150 new jobs as it invests €3.2m to electrify its Irish fleet of vehicles.The ElectriCity roll-out was launched in Dublin yesterday (30 April) and will spread to other urban locations across Ireland over the next three years.‘It is our intention to have electric vehicles stationed in all of our depots in three years’– DES TRAVERSThe 150 jobs will be created over the next 12 months, bringing total employment at the company to 1,300 people.Electric dreams30 of the new jobs will be directly part of the ElectriCity roll-out and the remaining 120 will be in countrywide services to facilitate future growth.DPD Ireland is a subsidiary of DPD Group, the parcel delivery network of GeoPost, which posted sales of €6.8bn in 2017. DPD Ireland chief executive Des Travers said DPD will be the first parcel delivery company to have an electric depot.“Through ElectriCity, 15 parcel delivery routes in Dublin will become all-electric routes. By the end of this year, as part of our bid to reduce our carbon output, DPD will have saved more than 20 tonnes of CO2 being emitted as a result of moving to an electric fleet,” he said.Travers said DPD is committed to making every parcel delivered carbon-neutral by measuring CO2 emissions, striving to reduce them and offsetting the remaining ones.The first 10 vehicles of the new electric fleet have arrived and are on the road from today.“Another 15 have been ordered but the problem is supply and getting them into the country,” Travers said.“While there is an urgent push to move to electric, from a commercial perspective it is still difficult to procure appropriate vehicles. It is our intention to have electric vehicles [EVs] stationed in all of our depots in three years,” he added.The €3.2m investment will include purchasing the EVs, hiring personnel, employee training, acquiring the depots and refurbishment.DPD operates 34 depots throughout Ireland, with its central sortation hub in Athlone. It currently employs 1,150 people and routed more than 20m parcels to delivery destinations last year.The company, which recorded a turnover of €91.5m last year, expects to deliver 24m parcels to its customers in 2019.Original source <a href="https://www.siliconrepublic.com/jobs/dpd-electric-vehicle-fleet">here.</a>

DPD to create 150 jobs as it rolls out electric vehicle fleet

Join the Defence Forces, do a degree and much more while receiving a Salary. Closing for applications; 12th May 2019100 cadets to be recruited to serve in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. The cadetship competition is an opportunity for young people to serve their country as officers in the different branches of the Defence Forces. On completion of their cadetships, newly commissioned officers will have the chance to serve Ireland both domestically and on overseas missions, as well as experience a broad spectrum of training and education relative to their branch of service.Commenting at the launch, Minister with responsibility for Defence, Paul Kehoe TD underlined the &quot;opportunities a career as an officer in the Defence Forces offers, to young men and women, to learn vital life skills, develop their leadership potential, undergo world class training and enhance their education. Earlier this year, 77 cadets were commissioned from the 94th Cadet Class - 17 women were part of that class- the largest number ever to be commissioned from one Cadet class. I am committed to building on these success in 2019. Recruitment is the lifeblood of the Defence Forces and is a vital component to the development of Defence Forces capabilities.&quot;Also commenting on the launch of the competition, Óglaigh na hÉireann Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM, said, &quot;Undergoing a cadetship in Óglaigh na hÉireann is a challenging and rewarding experience that equips young men and women to be leaders and decision makers in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. Óglaigh na hÉireann is looking for young people of character and competence who embody our core values.&quot;We live in a world of diversity; the Defence Forces needs men and women from all backgrounds. The Defence Forces are now accepting applications for Officer Cadetships.<ul><li>Army Line</li><li>Army Engineer</li><li>Army Equitation</li><li>Army Ordnance</li><li>Air Corps Pilot</li><li>Naval Service Operations</li><li>Naval Service Electrical Engineer</li><li>Naval Service Marine Engineer</li></ul>Candidates must be 18 years of age or above and under 26 years of age on the 1st September 2019Closing date for applications is Sunday 12th May 2019 at 2359hrs<h1></h1><h1>WHAT IS AN ARMY OFFICER CADET</h1>An Army Cadet enlists for a Cadetship to become an Officer in the Defence Forces. After successfully completing the Cadet Training Course in the Military College, an Army Cadet is commissioned into the Officer Ranks of the Army as a Second Lieutenant or Lieutenant. <h3>Who we want</h3>Officers are the leaders, decision makers and managers of the Defence Forces. A Line Officer leads, directs and motivates our frontline troops. The role comes with very real mental and physical challenges, with Officers being expected to lead from the front in all situations. Officer Cadets or trainee Officers engage in 15 months training in the Military College covering many basic and practical soldier skills and military fields of study before taking up an operational appointment in the Permanent Defence Forces. The Defence Forces is looking for people who have the potential to:<ul><li>Plan, prioritize and organise</li><li>Analyse problems, in order to generate appropriate solutions</li><li>Be clear, concise and with effective communication skills</li><li>The ability to motivate others and work with a team</li><li>Can you do all of this while working in a high pressure, mentally and physically demanding and environment?</li></ul>After completing Officer training, cadets are commissioned into a Service Corp — Infantry, Artillery, Cavalry, Transport or Communications Information Systems.As a young Officer many more opportunities for development, growth, variety and responsibility will come your way.Take Note: Additional education qualifications maybe required during a Cadet Competition and these will be listed in the Terms and Conditions for that competition.<h3>Age Limitations</h3>Be 18 years of age or over and under 26 years of age on the date mentioned in the notice for the current competition.<h3>Induction</h3>The Cadet Competition is held annually and is the only way for potential candidates to join the Defence Forces to become an Army Line Officer. Candidates undergo psychometric and fitness testing, an interview and a medical exam.Candidates who are invited to interview will be required to complete and sign a Garda Vetting Application Form that, pursuant to Section 8 of the Data Protection Act, 1988, will authorise the Garda Síochána to furnish to the Defence Forces either, a statement that there are no convictions recorded against a candidate, or a statement of convictions, as the case may be.<h3>Training</h3>The purpose of cadet training is to develop character and leadership skills and instil a sense of duty and responsibility in the cadet. To benefit from that training, which is conducted in an environment of strict discipline, the cadet needs mental acuity and physical agility. During 15 months of training an Army Cadet masters basic military skills, such as rifle marksmanship, as well as developing the leadership skills required of an Army Officer. On commissioning the new Officer takes up a leadership position in one of the Army Corps.<h3>Third Level Education</h3>Personnel of the Army, who were inducted as an Officer Cadet and successfully completed their Officer Cadet training and who have not previously attained an Honours Bachelor Degree (Level 8 of the National Framework of Qualifications) or equivalent may be assigned to a course of study leading to a degree at National University of Ireland, Galway or a course of study leading to a degree at some other third level college of education.<h3>Career Progression</h3>Commissioning is just the start of an Army Officer’s career. Once assigned to an Army Corps a Young Officer will undertake a number of courses to become a fully qualified officer of that corps. The Young Officer must also adjust to the new responsibilities of commanding and training troops.<h1>WHAT IS AN AIR CORPS CADET (PILOT)</h1>An Air Corps Cadet (Pilot) enlists for a Cadetship to become an Officer in the Defence Forces. After successfully completing the Cadet Training Course in the Military College and the Flight Training School in the Air Corps College, an Air Corps Cadet is commissioned into the Officer Ranks of the Air Corps as a Second Lieutenant or Lieutenant. <h3>Who we want</h3>Officers are the managers, decision makers and leaders of the Defence Forces. An Air Corps Flight Officer is also a military aviator who is qualified to fly the numerous types of aircraft operated by the Defence Forces. The role comes with very real physical and mental challenges, with Officers being expected to lead from the front in all situations. Officer Cadets or trainee Officers must engage in 9 months training in the Military College covering many fields of study before beginning their Officer Cadet Flight training in the Baldonnel Aerodrome, Dublin.The Defence Forces is looking for people who have<ul><li>The ability to plan, prioritize and organise.</li><li>The ability to carefully analyse problems, in order to generate appropriate solutions.</li><li>The technical and physical ability required to pilot military aircraft in challenging situations.</li><li>Clear, concise and effective communication skills.</li><li>The ability to motivate others and work with a team.</li><li>Can do all of this while working in a physically demanding and high pressure environment.</li></ul><h3>Qualifications</h3>The Terms &amp; Conditions for the 2019 Cadet Competition are currently under review. When the Competition is launched these Terms and Conditions will be made available.<h3>Age Limitations</h3>Be 18 years of age or over and under 26 years of age on the date mentioned in the notice for the current competition.<h3>Induction</h3>Candidates will undergo fitness testing, a preliminary competency based interview, a psychological interview, psychometric and psychomotor testing, and a medical exam. Candidates who are invited to interview will be required to complete and sign a Garda Vetting Application Form that, pursuant to Section 8 of the Data Protection Act, 1988, will authorise the Garda SÁochána to furnish to the Defence Forces either, a statement that there are no convictions recorded against a candidate, or a statement of convictions, as the case may be.The Induction process will determine if you have the potential to become an Air Corps Flight Officer.<h3>Training</h3>The purpose of Officer Cadet training is to develop character and leadership skills and instil a sense of duty and responsibility in the Officer Cadets, in addition to qualifying them as Military Aviators. To benefit from that training, which is conducted in an environment of strict discipline, the Officer Cadet needs mental acuity and physical agility. Air Corps Cadets spend 7 months training with an Army Cadet Class where they learn basic military skills and develop their leadership ability before they move on to flight training with the Air Corps.<h3>Career Progression</h3>After commissioning Air Corps officers must choose between specialising in fixed wing or rotary wing aircraft. Their new flight duties can include Air Ambulance, troop transport, and flying the Government Jet.<h3>What is a Naval Service Officer Cadet?</h3>A Naval Cadet enlists for a Cadetship to become an Officer in the Defence Forces. After successfully completing the Cadet Training Course in the Naval Service College, a Naval Cadet is commissioned into the Officer Ranks of the Naval Service as a Ensign or Sub Lieutenant.<h3>Who we want</h3>Officers are the managers, decision makers and leaders of the Defence Forces. A Naval Service Officer specialises in Operations Branch or Engineering Branch. The role comes with very real physical and mental challenges, with Officers being expected to lead from the front in all situations. A Naval Service Cadet engages in a course of training of approximately two years duration divided into different stages. The first year is spent in military training at the Naval Base in Haulbowline, Cork. The second year of the cadetship is in accordance with the National Maritime College of Ireland course prescribed for the cadets. At the end of the second year and on completion of exams, and a Sea Term, the cadets will be qualified for the award of a commission in the Permanent Defence Force and will be competent to carry out those duties required of an Ensign in the Naval Service.The Defence Forces is looking for people who have:-The ability to plan, prioritize and organise.<ul><li>The ability to carefully analyse problems, in order to generate appropriate solutions.</li><li>Clear, concise and effective communication skills.</li><li>The ability to motivate others and work with a team.</li><li>Can you do all of this while working in a physically demanding and high pressure environment.</li></ul><h3>Operations Branch Cadet</h3>Officers of the Operations Branch of the Naval Service are responsible for the efficient running of the ship. It is only from within this Branch that an officer may become Captain of a ship. The Operations Branch Officer’s responsibilities include Bridge Watchkeeping, where they are responsible for the safe navigation of the ship and the safety of the ships company along with the weapons and communications systems onboard. Operations Branch Officers also lead boarding teams in fishery protection and anti-drug running boarding operations and are therefore prime leaders and motivators of the ships company.<h3>Engineering Branch Cadet</h3>The Engineering Branch Cadet will be trained to a level whereby he/she can fill an appointment as a ships’ Marine Engineering Officer. The Engineering Officer is responsible for everything that keeps a ship afloat, moving and habitable. This includes the hull and general structures of the ship, its main engines and all auxiliary machinery, the main electrical generators, the electrical distribution system, the air conditioning, ventilation, heating systems and cold rooms as well as all fuel and water systems. It also includes the computer systems for communications, navigation and weapons control systems.<h3>Electrical Engineering Cadet</h3>Please see current terms and conditions for educational requirements.2019-Cadetships-Terms-&amp;-Conditions.pdf (size 1 MB)<h3>Age Limitations</h3>Be 18 years of age or over and under 26 years of age on the date mentioned in the notice for the current competition.<h3>Induction</h3>The Officer Cadet Competition is held annually and is the only way for potential candidates to join the Defence Forces to become a Naval Service Officer. Candidates undergo psychometric and fitness testing, an interview and a medical exam.Candidates who are invited to interview will be required to complete and sign a Garda Vetting Application Form that, pursuant to Section 8 of the Data Protection Act, 1988, will authorise the Garda Síochána to furnish to the Defence Forces either, a statement that there are no convictions recorded against a candidate, or a statement of convictions, as the case may be. The Induction Process will determine if you have the potential to lead troops as a Naval Service Officer.<h3>Training</h3>The purpose of cadet training is to develop character and leadership skills and instil a sense of duty and responsibility in the cadet. To benefit from that training, which is conducted in an environment of strict discipline, the cadet needs mental acuity and physical agility. During 2 years of training a Naval Service Cadet masters basic military skills, such as rifle marksmanship, as well as developing the leadership skills required of a Naval Service Officer. The second year of the cadetship is in accordance with the National Maritime College of Ireland course prescribed for the cadets. On commissioning the new Officer takes up a leadership role on a Naval Service vessel.<h3>Third Level Education</h3>On successful completion of the first year of training, Naval Service cadets spend the second year of the cadetship studying for a degree at the National Maritime College of Ireland.Go to <a href="http://www.military.ie/en/careers/current-competitions/">http://www.military.ie/en/careers/current-competitions/</a>For other jobs in Ireland go here; <a href="www.jobalert.ie">www.jobalert.ie</a>PRESS RELEASE - 18th April 2019Today the Minister with Responsibility for Defence, Mr Paul Kehoe T.D., announced the launch of the 2019 Cadetship Competition for the Permanent Defence Forces (PDF). The aim of this years competition is to induct 100 cadets to serve in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps.The cadetship competition is an opportunity for young people to serve their country as officers in the different branches of the Defence Forces. On completion of their cadetships, newly commissioned officers will have the chance to serve Ireland both domestically and on overseas missions, as well as experience a broad spectrum of training and education relative to their branch of service.Commenting on today’s launch, Minister with responsibility for Defence, Paul Kehoe TD underlined the &quot;opportunities a career as an officer in the Defence Forces offers, to young men and women, to learn vital life skills, develop their leadership potential, undergo world class training and enhance their education. Earlier this year, 77 cadets were commissioned from the 94th Cadet Class - 17 women were part of that class- the largest number ever to be commissioned from one Cadet class. I am committed to building on these success in 2019. Recruitment is the lifeblood of the Defence Forces and is a vital component to the development of Defence Forces capabilities.&quot;Also commenting on the launch of the competition, Óglaigh na hÉireann Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM, said, &quot;Undergoing a cadetship in Óglaigh na hÉireann is a challenging and rewarding experience that equips young men and women to be leaders and decision makers in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. Óglaigh na hÉireann is looking for young people of character and competence who embody our core values.&quot;The competition will be open from Thursday 18th April to Sunday 12th May and applicants can apply via <a href="http://www.military.ie/en/careers/current-competitions/">military.ie.</a>

100 Defence Force Cadets Required  - Army, Naval Service and Air Corps

83% of Irish workers think about quitting their job every day, according to new survey
The incredible findings also show that 40% of professionals hate their current role.The main reason given by unhappy workers was not being in the job they want, closely followed by the belief that their role has no room for progression.The research conducted by CV-Library surveyed 1,100 workers about their level of satisfaction with their current position.37% blamed not being in the role they want as the reason they were unhappy.More than 36% of those surveyed felt their job has no room for progression, and that they have a poor work-life balance.Other frequent complaints are of feeling undervalued, and disliking their boss. Speaking on the findings, Lee Biggins, founder of CV-Library, claimed that anyone dissatisfied in their current job should consider looking for a different role.He said: “Job satisfaction is important to the nations’ professionals – and this is understandable! Work is a big part of our lives, especially as we spend a significant amount of our time there.&quot;Enjoying what you do is extremely important, particularly when it comes to establishing a good work-life balance.“If you find yourself unhappy at work, it’s first important to identify why you feel this way and put measures in place to try and make things better.&quot;You might find you’re able to fall in love with your job again. &quot;That said, if you continue to feel dissatisfied in your role, it could be time to look for a job that better meets your needs, elsewhere.”<h3>Top 10 reasons Irish workers hate their current job</h3><ol><li>Not being in the role they want – 37%</li><li>Having no room for progression – 36.6%</li><li>Poor work-life balance – 36.4%</li><li>Poor company culture – 28%</li><li>Feeling undervalued – 27.3%</li><li>Disliking their boss – 26%</li><li>Finding it stressful – 25.3%</li><li>Finding it boring – 25.1%</li><li>Being underpaid – 19%</li><li>Not getting on with their colleagues – 18.2%</li></ol>

Study finds 83% of Irish workers think about quitting their job every day

Last year almost 5,000 Irish people applied for a free interrail pass, and 314 were successful!Irish teenagers are being invited to apply for a free interrail pass which will take them around Europe.The European Commission has launched its DiscoverEU travel passes for 2019, and is making 20,000 available across the continent to 18-year-olds.Applicants must be born between July 2nd 2000 and July 1st 2001. They will be able to travel individually or in a group of up to five people. As a general rule they will travel by rail, but they will also be able to access planes, buses and ferries where necessary.The rail pass is for up to 30 days and can be availed of from August 1st 2019 to January 31st 2020. A one month interrail pass usually costs €600.Last year almost 5,000 Irish people applied for a free pass, and 314 were successful. This year, 194 interrail passes have been allocated to Irish 18-year-olds. The budget for DiscoverEU has been increased from €12 million to €16 million and there are ambitions to spend €700 million on DiscoverEU between 2021 and 2027, allowing an additional 1.5 million 18-year-olds to travel.DiscoverEU hopes to cement the notion of European unity by allowing teenagers to travel together around Europe to experience the diversity of the continent.Successful applicants also receive a travel journal for them to record and reflect on their experiences, and will have the possibility to participate in organised community-building events during their trips.Ireland South MEP, Deirdre Clune said the scheme had already been a “huge success”.“The scheme is a great way to help young Irish people learn about and see other’s EU countries. There is so much to learn across Europe and a scheme such as this is very welcome in helping young people as they learn and develop. It is great to see so much interest from young people in the scheme and I would encourage the creation of more schemes like this.”The European Commission is planning to launch a fourth application round before the end of 2019.Applications can be made here: <a href="https://europa.eu/youth/discovereu_en">europa.eu/youth/discovereu_en</a> Original source: Ronan McGreevy - <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/europe/irish-teens-urged-to-apply-for-20-000-free-interrail-passes-1.3879859?fbclid=IwAR31XoZMjsk4DXErbsRokGgc9_mpyds2hEsBHjFkZslncJx6rrSgU5zLqKo">The Irish Times.</a>

Irish teens urged to apply for 20,000 free interrail passes

More than two-thirds of women who work in the home and have a third-level education do not want to return to a paid job, according to a survey.

Solas, the further education and training authority, surveyed 218,000 women, aged between 20 and 64, who were described as being on &#39;home duties&#39;, meaning they did not participate in the labour force.

It found that, regardless of their education level, the majority of women did not want to return to the labour force.

However, some 16,000 women said they could be encouraged to do so if they had the right supports - such as flexible working hours, childcare, apprenticeships and further education.

Launching the report, Solas director of communications Nikki Gallagher said childcare was not the sole reason why some women opted not to work.

&quot;There&#39;s a common perception that women opt out of the workforce primarily because of childcare duties while their children are young,&quot; she said.

&quot;However, the research we&#39;re publishing today shows only one-third of those not currently working have children under the age of five.

&quot;Low levels of educational attainment, and long periods out of work, can also impact on a woman&#39;s decision to remain at home.&quot;

Some 122,500 of the women surveyed had a Leaving Cert or less. Another 31,700 had further educational training, while 57,500 had a third-level education.

Almost half of the women with a third-level qualification had children aged five or younger - compared with a quarter of women with an upper secondary education or less.

Three-quarters of women with a third-level qualification had a partner in full-time employment. This fell to 48pc for women with an upper secondary education or less.

Some 38pc reported that they were either lone parents or had a partner who was not working.

Ultimately, there are over 16,000 women who are classified as &quot;untapped potential&quot;, according to Solas, and could be attracted to joining the workforce.

The right conditions such as childcare, flexible working hours, and taxation could help them to do so, said researcher Joan McNaboe.

Dress for Success founder Sonya Lennon, who helped to launch the research, said the findings were a &quot;punch in the gut&quot; but agreed with Ms McNaboe that the right conditions may attract women to work.

&quot;It&#39;s all the old chestnuts, remote working, better access to childcare, all the nuggets that we know are holding women back,&quot; she said.

&quot;They don&#39;t want to work because work doesn&#39;t work for them rather than they don&#39;t want to be economically independent.&quot;

She said there was no &quot;one-size-fits-all solution&quot; to getting women back into work.

&quot;When we look at the two big cohorts who could be in the workforce and are not, one of them is definitely the result of socio-economic issues and endemic unemployment. That is not going to need the same solution as the group of highly educated women who have fallen out of sustainable employment,&quot; she said.

Two-thirds of women doing 'home duties' do not want to return to a paid job

<h1></h1>Retire At 55 And Live To 80; Work Till You’re 65 And Die At 67. Startling New Data Shows How Work Pounds Older Bodies.A study by Dr. Ephrem Cheng, a leading American scholar, on the relationship between life expectancy and retirement age ( Age at Retirement Vs Life Span) The investigation report.The report netted several pension plans for U.S. supermajority groups, including Boeing, AT&amp;T and Ford Motor Co., and found that the later the executive retires, the shorter his or her life!The statistics are as follows:Retirement Age / Age of Death:49.9 / 8651.2 / 85.353.8 / 83.955.1 / 83.256.4 / 82.557.2 / 81.158.2 / 8059.2 / 78.5 60.1 / 76.861 / 74.562.1 / 71.863.1 / 69.364.1 / 67.965.2 / 66.8 “Ten working years could cost you twenty years of your Retirement!”Almost all large organizations are in agreement, and full-time managers who retire at the age of sixty-five usually die within eighteen months! As a result, quite a number of pension reserves have not been claimed. Dr. Cheng then launched a comprehensive survey, and the above statistics concluded that the later you retire, the earlier you die.Full-time managers face enormous pressure every day, constantly living in the emotional tension, but also need to cling to, so it is easy to push themselves to the edge of collapse. This mental and mental state seriously damages the organs and cells of the body, forming a long-term high-pressure state. Before you know it, your health will be cut short. Thus, at the age of sixty-five, when he retires, he is relieved of all his latent diseases, and within eighteen months he is gone.The findings have shocked American executives, so they say life is good enough, and they retire at 50. These senior retirees are not totally out of work. They just re-plan their lives and lives, relax and only take part-time and interesting jobs and stop pursuing power and luxury.According to the survey, the healthy decline of these 50-year-olds after they started their second spring has greatly improved. Many of them did not go to heaven until they were 85 years old. According to the survey, this group of 50-year-old retirees had their health plummeted.Dr. Cheng pointed out that the sooner you leave the circle of power and money and get rid of the shackles of fame and luxury, the happier you will be and the longer you will be able to live a basic life. Working as a philanthropist, in particular, is more conscious of living meaningfully, and as a result, the immune system is strengthened and the lifeline is prolonged.So when are you retiring?

Startling New Data Shows How Work Pounds Older Bodies

First UK airport to get permanent team of therapy dogs to calm nervous fliers.A Scottish airport is getting UK’s first permanent therapy dog team to help calm nervous fliers. Therapets will lend a paw to those who are anxious getting on planes at Aberdeen International Airport from this weekend. The travel hub has drafted in a team of four-legged volunteers after a successful trial over the busy Christmas and New Year period. The airport will become the first in the UK to have its very own therapy dog team when the Canine Crew start regular working regularly on Saturday. The dogs are easily identified in their high-vis jackets and bandanas, and will mingle with passengers and staff throughout the terminal.
They are already regular visitors to nursing homes, schools, prisons and universities, but this is the first venture of this scale based in the UK bringing dogs into an airport environment.
The animals have already been helping to improve mental health and wellbeing, alleviate stress and calm nerves, and are now ready to work their magic in their new surroundings. A joint endeavour by Therapet and Canine Concern Scotland, the team of 14 dogs – of various sizes – will be deployed with their handlers on a rota basis. Included in the team are friendly golden retrievers, German shepherds, beagles and a pug, among others.

Therapet’s north-east representative Diane Wood said: ‘We are delighted to take the lead in this project and have the opportunity to work with the Aberdeen airport. ‘All our dogs – and their owners – have undergone rigorous training and assessment to work in a variety of environments and the dogs are used to being stroked and petted and generally made a fuss of so they will lap up the attention and thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to interact with passengers and staff. ‘The mere action of stroking a dog slows down the heartbeat and reduces blood pressure so they will be a great help to anyone feeling nervous about their journey. ‘The dogs will work in pairs, for two hours at a time once a week and we plan to keep everybody updated about what dogs are visiting and when.’Aberdeen airport duty manager Fraser Bain added: ‘We’re excited to be the first airport in the UK to offer this service to passengers. ‘As well as benefiting our visitors, we also recognise the benefit to the mental health and wellbeing of our staff. ‘The Canine Crew is made up of a variety of dogs, with a mixture of brilliant traits and personalities and we cannot wait to see the reaction of our passengers.’

UK airport hires permanent team of therapy dogs to soothe nervous fliers

If you are returning to work after a break for whatever reasons, you may need to consider a few things before you jump right in!Well firstly, if you&#39;re looking for a job check out our listings and if you&#39;re on Social Media follow us, as we share information relevant to jobs in your area everyday.There are also lots of local services such as Jobs Centres, Intreo and Social Welfare Offices that can advise regarding your CV and work preparation schemes to help you with your transition.But will you lose out by taking up Work?The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection also have an on-line estimator that will help you assess the financial consequences of taking up full-time work - this is important. The Benefit of Work Estimator is a user friendly tool that gives an indication of the difference between your potential in-work and your current out-of-work payments based on information provided by you.  The Reckoner works out the total amount you would receive on taking up full-time work (including any Working Family Payment) and compares this to what you are getting in jobseeker payments (including Rent Supplement). What about your Medical Card and Rent Supplements?If you are unemployed you may be able to retain your medical card or Rent Supplement when you take up employment.If you are unemployed and you are returning to full-time or part-time work, you can keep your medical card for 3 years provided you have been getting a full-rate payment for one of the following allowances or benefits for 12 months or more:<ul><li>Jobseeker&#39;s Benefit</li><li>Jobseeker&#39;s Allowance</li><li>One-Parent Family Payment</li><li>Illness Benefit</li><li>Invalidity Pension</li><li>Disability Allowance</li><li>Blind Pension or</li><li>Have been on an employment incentive scheme or educational opportunity scheme</li></ul>If you take up full-time employment you will retain your medical card for 3 years from the date you start work. If you take up part-time employment the 3-year period starts from the date your income exceeds the relevant medical card guideline - further details can be found on hse.ie about this.Rent SupplementIf you have been unemployed or not in full-time employment for at least 12 months and are assessed as in need of housing under the Rental Accommodation Scheme you may be entitled to retain your Rent Supplement or part of it.Differential rents and returning to workIf you are renting from a local authority or housing association, your rent is calculated using the local authority differential rents system. This system is based on your household’s weekly income and your ability to pay. So, if your income increases when you return to work, you must inform the local authority or housing association and you may be asked for a higher contribution towards the rent.If you are a private tenant on the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, your rent contribution is calculated in a similar way and you will have to notify the local authority when your income changes.If you have children:<ul><li>You may be able to keep your Increase for a Qualified Child payment for 13 weeks. Alternatively, if you are taking up a low-paid job, you may qualify for Working Family Payment (WFP)</li><li>The Back to Work Family Dividend is available for lone parent and long-term jobseeker families with children return to work. It can be paid in addition to WFP.</li><li>A number of affordable childcare schemes provide childcare for families on lower incomes and aim to support parents to return to work or education.</li></ul>There&#39;s lots of information about the above and many other topics that will help you on the Citizens Information Website, HSE, Revenue.ie, welfare.ie and the inou.ie - best of luck For jobs go here: <a href="https://www.jobalert.ie/jobs">https://www.jobalert.ie/jobs</a>

Keeping your Medical Card and other entitlements when you find a job!

Self employed workers will be able to benefit from a welfare payment of €203 a week should they find themselves out of work from November. This will be the first time that the self-employed will be granted access to jobseeker’s benefit, and it will be paid at the same rate as those who are employed and lose their job. The move, which was first announced in last year’s Budget, will also benefit the many thousands of contractors who work for multinationals and smaller companies around the company on a self-employed basis.“This new benefit supports the Government’s aim of creating a supportive environment for entrepreneurship, including providing an income safety net to employees and self-employed alike,” Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty said. “The introduction of a new Jobseeker’s Benefit scheme for the self-employed represents the next step in the Government’s work to extend PRSI benefits and will provide an income safety net to thousands of small and medium businesses throughout the country.”Up until now, the only state benefit the self employed could access when their work dried up was jobseeker’s allowance. However, this was means tested and based on previous year’s income, which would have excluded many.Now however, it is expected that up to 6,500 individuals could benefit from the payment at any time in a year. The benefit will be paid at a maximum rate of €203.00 a week to the applicant, with payments also potentially available for dependents; a qualifying adult payment of €134.70 a week may apply for example, as well as an increase of up to €34 a week per each child under the age of 12, and €37 a week for each child aged 12 and over.Applicants will also have access to the full range of employment supports available to other jobseekers such as referral to group information sessions, one to one interviews and subsequent caseworker support.Applicants will have to satisfy a PRSI test to access the payment. As is the case with previously employed applicants, self-employed workers will need to have 260 or more self-employment PRSI contributions paid to get jobseeker’s benefit for the full nine months. Those with fewer than 260 contributions will get the paymnet for six months.Self employed workers have been able to access an enhanced range of welfare payments in recent years. For example, the self-employed now benefit from treatment benefits, which includes free eye tests, dental examinations and contributions towards the cost of hearing aids, and the invalidity pension, as well as having entitlement to a full state pension, and statutory maternity/paternity pay.However, when those who are self employed find themselves out of work on a short term basis due to ill-health, they still can’t access illness benefit.Drafting of the legislation needed has commenced, with the new scheme expected to be available from November 2019. Source: <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/business/personal-finance/self-employed-can-claim-the-dole-for-the-first-time-from-november-1.3874890?fbclid=IwAR0Prz4LX7cez26orm4syb7w1gmQYPSqI5QR5WsB3LQ_LC8KZ6h2Fkq-4ic">The Irish Times</a>

Self-employed can claim the dole for the first time from November

By Isabelle Roughol
Senior editor-at-large, LinkedIn | Tech and media hybrid
You should really get more sleep. I know, you&#39;ve heard it before. But there&#39;s something about hearing sleep scientist Matt Walker enumerate on the TED stage all the ways sleep deprivation destroys your health, relationships and productivity that finally convinced me. Here&#39;s one stat I won&#39;t forget in a hurry: on the spring day after daylight savings comes into force — a wonderful controlled experiment when more than a billion people lose an hour of sleep — heart attacks increase by 24%! That&#39;s how much even a small change in sleep impacts health. (Yes, the reverse is also true in the fall: heart attacks decrease when we gain an hour of sleep.)Sleep deprivation impacts cardiovascular health, reproductive health, mental health, your brain, your immune system... and it&#39;ll make you behave really weirdly at work.<h3>Lack of sleep makes you less ambitious.</h3>&quot;Underslept employees, defined as sleeping six hours or less, will select fewer challenging problems,&quot; Walker tells me in a follow-up interview. In the lab, people are given a chance to just do email or deep project work. Those who haven&#39;t slept enough systematically choose the easy option, he says.<h3>Lack of sleep makes you less creative.</h3>In that same experiment, once they are working on meaningful problems, underslept employees come up with fewer creative solutions. &quot;It&#39;s creativity and ingenuity that&#39;s supposed to drive businesses forward!&quot; Walker reminds us.<h3>Lack of sleep makes you unethical.</h3>&quot;The less and less sleep that an employee has, the more deviant and unethical they become,&quot; Walker explains. Those employees become more likely to fudge a factor in a spreadsheet, falsify expense claims, or even claim the work of other people as their own.<h3>Lack of sleep makes you lazy.</h3>In a group, workers who have slept less will lean on others to do the work and ride their coattails. That&#39;s called social loafing, and it doesn&#39;t make for a great team atmosphere.<h3>Lack of sleep makes you bad at learning.</h3>Sorry students, all-nighters are pointless. After an all-nighter, your capacity to retain new information drops by 40%. &quot;You need sleep after learning to hit the save button on these new memories,&quot; Walker says. &quot;But you also need sleep before learning to prepare your brain.&quot;<h3>Lack of sleep makes you less of a leader.</h3>Walker cites a study by Christopher Barnes at the University of Washington: When CEOs have had a bad night&#39;s sleep, their employees rate them as less charismatic! The rating can change significantly from one day to the next and though the workers have no idea of their leader&#39;s sleeping habits, they can tell that something was off.So there&#39;s really little evidence that Jack Ma&#39;s devotion to the 9-9-6 schedule — working 9 am to 9 pm six days a week — makes any business sense. &quot;This notion of time on task is a fallacy,&quot; Walker says. It was already questionable in the industrial age, when tired workers made more mistakes and had more accidents, and it is especially questionable in the information age. Why have people sitting there twice as long working half as well? Or as Walker puts it, &quot;Why would you boil a pot of water at medium heat when you could do it in half the time on high?&quot;What can be harmful on an individual level becomes nonsensical at the national scale. The RAND corporation measured that sleep deprivation costs developed economies up to 3% of GDP, a growth rate many countries would envy. That&#39;s $411 billion of lost productivity due to insufficient sleep in the US, more than $50 billion in the UK or $138 billion in Japan. &quot;If I could solve the sleep-loss crisis within the workplace, I could almost double the budget for education in most of those countries or I could almost halve the healthcare deficit,&quot; Walker says.The bad news is you can&#39;t &quot;catch up&quot; on sleep, and the damage done is done. But you can stop adding to it. These are Walker&#39;s recommendations for a good night&#39;s sleep:<ul><li>Be regular. Go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time every day, even on the weekend.</li><li>Keep a cool room. Your body needs to drop its temperature to fall asleep. Ideal room temperature is 65°F or 18°C.</li><li>Make your bedroom a haven. Don&#39;t work there. Your brain needs to associate it with sleep.</li><li>Avoid sleeping pills, caffeine and alcohol. They keep your sleep superficial.</li></ul>Every species known to science sleeps. There must be a good reason. &quot;If sleep does not serve an absolutely vital function, it&#39;s probably the biggest mistake the evolution process has ever made. You&#39;re not reproducing, you&#39;re not finding food, you&#39;re not caring for your young, and worse still, you&#39;re vulnerable to predation,&quot; Walker notes. &quot;It&#39;s the most idiotic thing — unless it&#39;s non-negotiable.&quot;

These are all the ways lack of sleep makes you terrible at work

On Friday morning, homeless web developer David Casarez woke from his park bench in Mountain View, Calif., put on a nice shirt and tie, and carried his hand-written cardboard sign to a nearby highway median.

“HOMELESS,” the sign read.

“HUNGRY 4 SUCCESS. TAKE A RESUME.”

It turned out to be the perfect job search strategy.

A passerby’s photo of him standing on the median holding the sign soon went viral on Twitter, and by Saturday afternoon, he’d been flooded with more than 200 job offers.

“Google reached out to me,” the astounded 26-year-old told The Post.

“So many other companies. Pandora. A bunch of startups,” he said, speaking by phone at a Starbucks near where he’d first gone begging — literally — for work.

“A product manager from Bitcoin.com was wondering if I could work remotely or if I want to relocate to Tokyo,” he said, with wonder in his voice as he scrolled through the offers.

“But tonight, I’ll be back on my bench in Rengstorff Park.”

Casarez grew up in the border town of Laredo, Texas.

He earned a bachelor’s in management information systems from Texas A&amp;M University, landed a good web developer job at General Motors in Austin, but then cashed out his 401(k) and drove to Silicon Valley to pursue the dream of his own tech startup — only to run out of cash in June.

“I’d been living in my car for more than a year,” he said of his 2015 Ford Transit Connect utility van.

Enlarge ImageDavid Casarez&#39;s resume
David Casarez’s resumeJasmine Scofield
“No one was hiring. I had an interview with Apple in January, but the job was filled internally,” he said.

Casarez says he did some freelancing — a few web design and logo design jobs.

But a month ago, his van was repossessed, he said, and he’s been sleeping in the park since.

On Friday, he dressed as best he could — “to be presentable to my future employers,” he explained — and set out with his new sign and a stack of resumes in a FedEx envelope.

“It was basically a make-or-break moment,” he said of his job-search breakthrough.

“I wanted to keep my head up high, keep looking forward and see what opportunity would come next,” he added.

“I was thinking, you know, like this was like my last stop. If this didn’t work, I’d go back home and give up on my dream.”

He’d only been standing on the median at El Camino Real and San Antonio Road for a couple hours when a passing driver named Jasmine Scofield stopped and asked if she could take his picture and post it online.

Sure, Casarez told her.

“Today I saw this young homeless man asking for people to take a resume rather than asking for money,” she tweeted around 5 p.m. Friday.

“Please RT so we can help David out!”

By mid-afternoon Saturday California time, Scofield’s photos of Casarez and his resume had been retweeted more than 50,000 times and liked nearly 70,000 times.

“It’s been happening very quickly, and I’m in shock,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting that kind of response,” he added. “It kinda blew up.”

Homeless man hands out resumes, gets hundreds of job offers

According to Dr. Paul Kelley, a leading researcher at Oxford University, having to wake up and go to work before 10 o’clock in the morning is one of the most common forms of torture.The Circadian Rhythm, or the internal body clock, represents the biological timers that dictate the way our body functions, and this genetically pre-programmed cycle regulates our perception of time, brain function, energy levels, and hormone production.Therefore, waking up this early and working before 10 o’clock tortures our body and negatively affects the natural balance in the body.Kelley explains that people cannot change their 24-hour rhythms, and one cannot learn to get up at a certain time, since the liver and your heart have different patterns and they should actually shift two or three hours.In the early 20th century, when the 8-hour working day was introduced, along with the 24/7 factory productivity, no one considered the natural human body clock.As a result, Dr. Paul Kelley claims that it affects the physical, emotional and performance systems and thus damages the body. Staff should start at 10 am. He also adds that people are chronically sleep-deprived, and it is an international issue.Moreover, a week with less than six hours’ sleep each night leads to 711 changes in how genes function.He believes that the effects of work will be drastically improved if we made simple changes in the time we start and end work.Dr. Kelley and other neuroscientists point out the importance of understanding functionality of the body at different ages, especially when it comes to sleep cycles. Sleep deprivation starts in adolescence as teens are biologically predisposed to go to sleep around midnight.Therefore, they aren’t really awake until 10 am in the morning, and due to the strict early morning hour schedule of schools, they are losing an average of 10 hours of sleep a week. Moreover, they tend to stay awake longer into the night on weekends, so they face a difficulty to constantly readjust to the early-to-bed, early-to-rise sleep cycle that is structured for a 55-year-old.A British school tested Dr.Kelley’s theory that schools should start from 8.30 am to 10.00 am, and after some time, the grades of the students were significantly increased, and as well as their attendance and general productivity.Therefore, if we decide to incorporate such changes in all sectors of the modern society, people will undoubtedly become more productive, happier, healthier, full of energy and joy, instead of being fatigued, stressed, and addicted to coffee.

Scientists Say That Starting Work Before 10am Is Similar To Torture

Up to half of all jobs could be wiped out or changed almost beyond recognition as new technologies sweep through the global economy, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development has warned.

It estimates automation will eliminate almost one in six roles completely, while a further third will “change radically”, bringing the total to 46pc of all jobs.

New jobs will be created to replace the lost posts, but traditional full-time, permanent employment may become a thing of the past for most workers, and those with the fewest skills and least training are most vulnerable.

“Individuals will face deep and rapid changes: many will have to change not only their job but even their occupation, and most will have to modernise their skills and working practices. These transitions towards new jobs and occupations might be difficult and costly for a number of workers,” said the OECD in its annual Employment Outlook.Automation to date has not wiped out job opportunities. The employment rate is rising across much of the developed world, particularly among women and older workers.

But avoiding mass unemployment will require new skills and a new approach to work, the OECD said.

Just as the shift from manufacturing jobs into the services industry left some workers struggling, so this tech revolution risks locking millions out of employment in the years ahead.

“Doomsday scenarios are unlikely to materialise, but there are some real risks,” the think-tank warned.

“Many are worried that the world of work is heading for a dystopian future of massive technological unemployment, precarious work, workers with little or no bargaining power, and important skills gaps as populations age rapidly.”The solution is a complete overhaul of education and training to better serve workers and businesses in a world of rapidly changing technology and longer lives, the OECD believes.

“We should move away from a model of front-loaded education – whereby recognised skills are mainly developed in schools and universities and subsequently used at work – to a system in which skills are continuously updated during the working life to match changing skills needs,” its report said.Its surveys of 29 mostly rich countries indicate six in 10 workers lack basic IT skills or computer experience, indicating the scale of the challenge.

A key risk is that middle-wage jobs will be destroyed, leaving only low-paid and high-paid positions with little in between.

One consequence of new technology is a rise in &quot;gig&quot; working on a temporary or informal basis. The OECD fears this has undermined workers’ rights and protections in countries including the UK, potentially making those workers more vulnerable to losing their jobs and leaving them with fewer welfare protections should they fall on hard times.

Robots set to wipe out or radically alter millions of jobs, OECD warns

Staying At Home with Kids Is Harder Than Going to Work
We love our kids. No doubt about that. They are bundles of joy given to us by the universe to set our lives on a path of unbridled love, affection, and happiness. At least, that’s what many of us think.
However, this doesn’t change the fact that they drive us nuts sometimes. Staying at home to look after your kids can be more difficult than going to a hectic job [1]. Kids can drain our energy, especially newborns. Feeding, soothing, singing to sleep, bathing, changing, powdering, playing, cooing, gagging – the unconditional love we have for them doesn’t always relieve the stress. Stay-at-home parents can relate better to this, especially those with many kids.
They don’t usually like to complain about their ordeals. Most people would wonder, “What’s so hard about staying at home all day with your little one(s)?” People judge them without thinking about what they go through every day. It’s true that constantly complaining can do more harm than good, but everyone deserves to once in a while and they need to be taken seriously.
When most working parents spend a day at home with their kids, even on paid leave, many can’t wait to get back to work.
AVEENO Baby U.K. survey
A nationwide survey conducted in the U.K. has shown that many parents get more stressed while staying at home with their kids than going to work [2]. The survey, conducted by AVEENO® Baby, had a sample size of the of 1,500 mothers and fathers from around the country. These parents either worked various types of jobs or were stay-at-home parents. 
The results of the survey were as follows:
31% agreed that staying at home with kids is more stressful than going to work.
40% agreed that after having their own first child, they stopped judging new parents for complaining too much.
55% believed that having a baby is hard work even with a strong support system.
25% voted that having a baby is easy.
Despite NCT (National Childbirth Trust) classes and self-help books, 45 percent of the women said they wouldn’t have coped without their own mother’s advice.
39% of the parents said they are constantly exhausted.
71% of the moms and dads believed that social media made parenting more competitive, with everyone trying to level up to someone else.
27% felt they are under pressure to be perfect parents.
22% are worried about their newborns’ eating habits.
9% are worried about their kids’ sleep patterns.
Despite all these, 42% agreed that they experienced true, unconditional love for the first time when they had their first baby.
“Becoming a parent is an amazing experience, but we understand that entering this new chapter of life can also bring with it a great deal of stress and worry, so we wanted to discover more about what new parents experience in the first few years, what they wish they had known and how best we can support them,” Aveeno Baby Skin expert, Rebecca Bennett, told The Sun.
The verdict is, taking care of kids is not an easy feat. Nevertheless, their heart-warming smiles, tiny feet, soft bums, and cloud-like hair will do a lot to override any exhaustion we feel. One moment, we want to grab our bags and run for the door. The next, you are on your back balancing your toddler on your belly.
It’s an on and off thing.

Latest Posts