Blog posts by Paul Brook

Tackling slippery slopes and uphill struggles

by Paul Brook

Did you see the ski cross on TV the other week? It’s the newest sport in the Winter Olympics, and involves four skiers racing each other at frightening speed down a lethally steep mountain, flying over jumps, hurtling round twists and turns and generally risking life and limb.

Extreme highs and lows are what you'd expect from the Olympics, but unfortunately we've also come to expect them from the UK housing market and its 'boom and bust cycle'.

Poverty: still a poor relative in the media?

by Paul Brook

How The Other Half Live, 7 Days on the Breadline, Secret Millionaire: what do they have in common?

All these recent TV series look at aspects of poverty in the UK today. Their approach – to contrast the lives of very wealthy people and very poor people – might not be to everyone's taste, but for TV viewers who do not come into contact with poverty themselves these shows are a reminder that poverty exists in the UK today and affects a lot of people.