Financial news

• Tracy Brabin calls for self-employed to be able to share parental pay

  17-02-2018 22:25
  Former actress wins cross-party support for her bill to give ‘gig’ workers the same rights as staffActors, performers and workers of the gig economy unite! An increasing number of Britons are living the precarious, job-to-job existence already familiar to performers.In response to this widespread change to patterns of employment, Tracy Brabin, the actress-turned-Labour MP, is to introduce a bill on Wednesday to bring in shared parental pay for people living the kind of insecure worki
  
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• Plentiful, decent places to live should be the priority, not home ownership | Rowan Moore

  17-02-2018 19:02
  As a new study shows that the housing ladder is now out of reach for many, it’s time for a rethink on rentingThe news that home ownership among younger people is “collapsing” will count as one of the least surprising stories of the week. Most people under 40, or those who know someone of that age, understands that the fabled housing ladder is now something held far aloft, as if by spiteful angels, its first rung attainable only by a miraculous leap. Or with the help of parents&
  
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• Labour is dreaming if it believes Britain wants socialism

  17-02-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  The government might be in disarray but anxious over-50s, keen to protect their wealth and savings, have still got its backAt this stage of the Brexit talks there seem to be few barriers to the Tory party dominating the outcome. It’s not the string of opinion polls showing Theresa May either ahead, neck and neck or only marginally behind Labour, all of which are stunningly positive survey results for a government in such disarray.Nor is it the way Boris Johnson and Anna Soubry slug it
  
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• Apocalypse now for Britain’s retailers as low wages and the web cause ruin

  17-02-2018 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Big-name stores are teetering on the brink. Without radical action to bring back shoppers, UK high streets will be wrecked“Who’d be a retailer now?” That was the comment from City economist Jeremy Cook when the latest set of grim retail sales data was released by the Office for National Statistics last Friday. “The average Brit,” he added, “has spent the past few years living by the mantra ‘When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.’”A
  
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• UK savings rates rise, but still lose out to cost of living

  17-02-2018 14:43
  We pick short-term accounts and Isas that sould give you a return nearer the inflation rateInterest rates on savings accounts are finally starting to creep upwards, but savers are still losing more to inflation than they are earning from interest, according to Moneyfacts.The financial data analysts said this week that rates across the savings market have risen for 13 consecutive months, and are continuing to outweigh cuts. Continue reading...
  
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• Self-employed? Here’s how to get a mortgage

  17-02-2018 14:43
  A third of people think lenders are biased against them, but there are ways to win them overThe number of people who are self-employed has increased dramatically since 20001, jumping from 3.3 million to 4.8 million. Do their precarious earnings mean they can’t get mortgages? Will they be treated as second-class citizens by the lenders? Sadly that will be the case for many, especially those in the low-paid “gig economy”. But don’t give up all hope: those who have more depe
  
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• Bitcoin mining to move to ICELAND as new cryptocurrency hotbed emerges

  17-02-2018 11:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN mining is booming in Iceland due to the country’s abundance of geothermal and hydroelectric power plants.
  
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• People in their late 20s have worse credit ratings than teenagers

  17-02-2018 09:00
  Figures from Experian show that people in their mid- to late 20s are the highest risksSurveys have highlighted a worrying lack of money skills among young people, but when it comes to their credit scores, it seems teenagers are doing something right. New data from Experian shared exclusively with Guardian Money suggests that, on average, 18- and 19-year-olds have better credit scores than people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Meanwhile, the typical age range at which your credit score is at its lowe
  
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• ITALY DEBT CRISIS: Borrowing soars to €2.2TRILLION sparking Eurozone fears

  17-02-2018 08:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  ITALY is sitting on a pile of public debt worth €2,256.1 billion after adding a staggering €36.6 billion between 2016 and 2017. The fourth largest economy in the eurozone has amassed a pile of debt that has grown from €2,137 billion at the end of 2014 to €2,256.1bn in 2017.
  
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• Should I let my neighbours use my wifi?

  17-02-2018 08:00
  I’m worried I won’t be able to watch Netflix at the same time, or they may visit dodgy sitesEvery week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.This week’s question: Continue reading...
  
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• Burdened by teenage kids and elderly parents, it’s grim for ‘parent-sioners’

  17-02-2018 08:00
  Financial woes are making people delay having children and getting on the property ladderThere will be an astonishing increase over the next decade in the number of people in their 60s who have children that are not yet 18. New research suggests that in just 10 years there will be 1 million such UK “parent-sioners”, compared to 400,000 today. While no one should question the ability of someone in their 60s to care for teenagers, the financial consequences are impossible to ignore.The
  
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• Warren Evans buyers sleep uneasily as bed firm folds

  17-02-2018 07:59
  Customers are scrambling to get credit card refunds after the award-winning ethical retailer fell into administrationCustomers who recently ordered from bedmaker Warren Evans, which went into administration last week, look to have lost their cash after staff confirmed that no more deliveries will take place.The firm, a long-time favourite with Guardian and Observer readers because of its ethical stance, called in administrators on 6 February after failing to find a new investor. Continue reading
  
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• ‘I spend £10,000 a year and most weekends on car racing’

  17-02-2018 07:30
  IT consultant Steve Norton on how he lives a simple life in order to focus on his hobbyI’d always had a fantasy about racing cars, but it’s a hobby that needs time and money, neither of which I had enough of until five years ago. Then two random things happened that pitched me onto the track. I’d been working for Lancashire police in IT development on £32,000 a year when budget cuts meant that I was moved to maintenance programming and went from playing with shiny ne
  
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• New Year fitness craze fails to boost retail sales as consumer spending flounders

  17-02-2018 01:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  PUMPED up spending on gym wear and fitness equipment could not prevent UK retail sales sagging in January. Concerns mounted that cash-strapped consumers will struggle to power economic growth after official figures showed sales volumes edging up by just 0.1 per cent from the previous month, when they declined by 1.4 per cent.
  
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