These days one can hardly get to eat one\u2019s sandwiches, cucumber or otherwise, without being bothered by yet another stunningly patronising report on the state of the poor.<\/p>\n
Today there\u2019s one from Chicago, bearing the remarkable revelation that older people who cannot read or understand basic health information die younger than people who can. Researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine interviewed 3,260 patients aged 65 or older in order to come up with the extraordinary conclusion that \u201cmore education tends to result in better job opportunities, a higher annual income and access to housing, food and health insurance\u201d\u009d. Wow. Who would have thought it. All that work, all those interviews, all that precious time. And what a result.<\/p>\n
Last week there was a similar example of the blindingly obvious from researchers at the University of Sheffield\u2019s Department of Geography, working for the Rowntree Foundation, who found that inequality in Britain is at a record high, with the gap between the rich and the poor widening over the past 40 years.<\/p>\n
On the life of your nearest private equity squillionaire, you would never have guessed it.<\/p>\n