Latest news with #SHED
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Widespread Interactions With Criminal Justice System Cast Long Shadow On Retirement Savings
A lot of people get arrested and convicted in the United States. Those interactions with the criminal justice system cast long finacial shadows. This is true for retirement savings as well as calculations based on recently released Federal Reserve data show. People who have been arrested and convicted end up with lower retirement savings than people who have not been taken into custody. A recent Federal Reserve survey on people's economic situation includes a series of questions on whether people have been taken into police custody, convicted and served time. The same survey, the Fed's Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) also asks questions about retirement savings. Interactions with the criminal justice system are fairly widespread. It is necessary to combine data years to make sure that sample sizes are large enough. In 2023 and 2024, 13.7% of adults said that they had been taken into custody in the past, 6.0% said that they had been convicted and 1.8% of people indicated that they served time. The respective shares of people are higher for Black and Latino people than for White people, with 17.3% of African-Americans and 17.9% of Latinos in 2023 and 2024 saying that they had been taken into custody, but only 12.5% of White adults said that this was the case. A lot of these racial differences are not explained by differences in criminal behavior, but rather, are the result of structural biases against Black and Latino adults. These interactions with the criminal justice system make it more difficult for people to save for retirement. For one, those who have a criminal record will face more labor market obstacles than those without a criminal record. They will work in less stable jobs and receive lower wages. This means that they will have a harder time qualifying for retirement benefits and have less money to put away towards retirement. In addition, people who have been arrested and convicted will have legal fees, but also face other economic challenges, for instance, in renting a house or apartment. They face higher costs, impeding their retirement savings and necessitating more liquidity in their retirement savings, for example, by withdrawing money pre-retirement or taking out loans on their retirement accounts. All of these factors could make it less likely that people have retirement accounts to begin with and more likely that the savings in those accounts grow more slowly. Earlier data already showed differences in retirement savings by interactions with the criminal justice system. Specifically, 48.4% of people that did not have a family member in prison or jail had any retirement savings in 2019, while this was the case for only 37.7% of people with an incarcerated family member. Recent Federal Reserve data for 2023 and 2024 provide additional details on the link between interactions with the criminal justice system and retirement savings. The data allow for a separation of respondents into three distinct groups: Those who were taken into police custody and were convicted, those who were taken into police custody, but were not convicted, and those who were not taken into police custody. The SHED also includes a number of key measures for retirement savings. It is, for example, possible to create one indicator whether people have any retirement benefit – a 401(k) type account, an IRA or a DB pension. It is also possible to create another indicator whether people increased the liquidity in their retirement savings by borrowing from their retirement accounts, withdrawing money from a retirement account or reducing their retirement account contributions. These actions all slow the growth of retirement savings as people need more liquidity. People who had any interactions with the retirement system fare worse in terms of retirement savings (see Figure below). The share of people who worked for somebody else and who were at least 25 years old with a retirement benefit is lower among those who were convicted (65.6%) than was the case for people who were taken into custody, but who were not convicted (76.5%), which was in turn much lower than the share of working people who were never taken into custody (84.5%). Having been convicted, regardless of whether the person served time or not, reduces the chance of having a retirement benefit by almost 19 percentage points, compared to somebody, who had never been taken into custody. And, those who were convicted also need more liquidity in their retirement accounts (see Figure above). In particular, 25.6% of those working for somebody else who were at least 25 years old and who had a retirement account also took out a pension loan, withdrew money before retirement or lowered their retirement plan contributions in 2023 and 2024. The respective shares for the other two groups were 16.2% and 16.0%. Having been convicted thus also goes along with a greater need for liquidity in retirement accounts, which could slow the growth of retirement savings. A substantial share of Americans are arrested and convicted. Convictions can cast a long financial shadow over people's lives. This includes negative correlations between arrests and convictions, on the one hand, and retirement savings, on the other hand. Those who have been arrested and convicted are much less likely to have any retirement plan, for instance. Financial insecurity follows criminal convictions for some time.
Metro
7 days ago
- Health
- Metro
Why diet culture missed the average British bloke
Weight loss ads have been around for decades. But ever noticed that nearly all of them feature women or super-fit gym-going men? In fact, you hardly ever see an ordinary working bloke. And one over 40 carrying a bit of timber? Unimaginable! This makes no sense. After all, if anyone needs help losing weight, it's this exact group, with 69 per cent of men in England overweight, and ages 55 to 64 the worst time for loading on fat¹. So, despite the health and fitness industry booming, ordinary middle-aged guys have been pretty much left out of the conversation. Well, they were before SHED – a new British brand offering nutritionally complete meal replacement shakes specifically designed for normal men. They've already racked up some impressive results in real-life trials, which you'll hear about below. But first, let's deal with the key question – why does the diet industry have such a blind spot for ordinary blokes? To understand why normal men are ignored by traditional weight loss marketing, consider what it's trying to achieve. In most cases, these ads are about selling an ideal. In other words, they want you to look at the man with the chiselled abs who runs a marathon a week and think – if I buy this, I could be him. But real life, as we all know, doesn't work like that. Most of us have busy jobs and lots of commitments. So, while there's nothing wrong with aspiring to be a gym god, pretending this is a reasonable aspiration for everyone is a non-starter. That's not the only way weight loss regimes exclude everyday blokes. It's also the fussy recipes and complex diet plans – hardly suitable for someone who's working long hours and always on the move. And while tech bros might be able to pay £20 for a cup of 'magic' juice, most of us have better things to spend our money on. How SHED breaks the mould SHED took one look at the diet industry and turned it on its head. They've not only created a weight loss product specifically for men but also made it simple and fuss-free at the same time. So instead of having to follow a mindboggling regime, you simply ditch unhealthy meals and opt for a SHED SHAKE, which provides a balanced meal containing less than 300 calories. Just make sure not to over-indulge elsewhere and keep on eating a normal, healthy evening meal. It's that simple. Oh, and they're great value too, coming in at under £1.80 per serving. That's all well and good, you say, but does it actually work? To test this out, SHED ran a trial² involving 50 middle-aged men – factory workers from Darlington and Leeds and the members of a specialist league for fat footballers in Chelmsford, Essex. In other words, a bunch of ordinary blokes. Tronny, 52, and his five-a-side teammates all went on the SHED for the 14 weeks of their league season: 'SHED's been a game-changer for me. It started me on my weight loss journey, and now I feel like I am heading in the right direction. 'I love the vanilla and chocolate. Both really nice. I would recommend it to anyone.' Each of them was asked to swap one meal a day, either breakfast or lunch, for a SHED SHAKE – recording their weight before and after, as well as journaling how it went. A remarkable 95 per cent of those who stuck to this routine for the whole six weeks lost weight, with the average SHED-ing (sorry…) four kilograms. They also lost 3cm off their waistlines, with 33 per cent returning to a healthy waist-to-height ratio. Unsurprisingly, the great majority – 80 per cent – said they would recommend SHED to other men. For too long, the diet industry hasn't given normal British blokes the time of day. SHED stands out by being inspired by regular men like you and designed specifically for your needs. Their launch range of meal replacement shakes comes in three tasty flavours, Vanilla, Chocolate or Coffee, with 14 servings in each pack. Visit TODAY to take their 6-week challenge at a special launch price Consult your doctor before starting on a new diet programme. ¹ NHS Digital, 2023 to 2024 . ² Six-week real-world study of 50 British men aged 35-65 (mean age 47), published 13 December 2024. Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
British middle-aged men, this is YOUR time: How the at-risk group is often left out of the conversation on weight loss
Picture a typical ad for a new weight loss product. What kind of person does it show? Is it a paunchy bloke over 40 driving back home knackered after working another gruelling 10-hour shift? No, we didn't think so... If it shows a man at all, he'll almost certainly have a six pack, bulging biceps and either be running or lifting weights. In other words, your average British middle-aged man has been almost entirely left out of the conversation on weight loss. That's despite being the exact group the health and fitness industry should be targeting, with 69 per cent of blokes in England overweight and 55 to 64 considered the worst time for loading on fat¹. Introducing SHED, a new UK weight loss brand behind a range of nutritionally complete meal replacement shakes created specifically for normal men like you. But before we reveal more about them, let's take a step back to look at why they were ever needed in the first place... Explaining the 'middle-aged spread' Know those unflattering photos you see of male politicians at the beach? They're just one example of the middle-aged spread, a trend that sees lots of men start to gain weight from their 30s onwards, particularly around the waist. Believe it or not, there's been a lot of research looking into why this happens, with scientists finding it is mainly down to lifestyle factors, including blokes doing less exercise as they juggle work and family responsibilities. Your weight gain is likely to be worse if you have a job where you sit down a lot, like working in an office. And as you'll know, busy work schedules can make it harder to eat well - especially if the only option is a ham sandwich and packet of crisps at a service station or a greasy canteen fry-up. How normal men got ignored... until now Lots of middle-aged British blokes want to slim down. But when it comes to the health and fitness industry, almost no one is speaking their language. They've long been slimming shakes for women, or foul-tasting science drinks for City slickers, but ordinary working blokes seem to have been abandoned to carb-heavy convenience food. This isn't just a question of presentation, but practicality too. After all, who really has time to stick to a complex diet regime when you're on your feet all the time with 100 other things to do? SHED changes all this by making dieting easy. All you need to do is swap one or two meals per day for a SHED SHAKE, avoid over-indulging elsewhere, and continue eating a full, healthy evening meal. It's that simple... To test out the effectiveness of this approach, 50 regular blokes - a mix of factory workers and the members of a league for fat footballers - were asked to swap one meal a day (either breakfast or lunch) for a SHED SHAKE. Out of those who stuck to this routine for the whole six weeks, 95 per cent lost weight, with the average SHED-ing four kilograms. They also lost 3cm off their waistlines and 33 per cent returned to a healthy waist-to-height ratio. Unsurprisingly, the great majority - 80 per cent - said they would recommend SHED to other men. So... are YOU ready to SHED? Are you a middle-aged British bloke who's piled on a few pounds? Well, pay attention, because your time has come. We know you've been ignored for ages by the diet industry, but that's not the case any longer. SHED's launch range of meal replacement shakes comes in three tasty flavours; Vanilla, Chocolate and Coffee, with 14 servings in each pack. To prepare one, simply add two scoops of SHED to ice cold water or lower-fat milk, give it a shake, and drink up. ¹ NHS Digital, 2023 to 2024. ² Six-week real-world study of 50 British men aged 35-65 (mean age 47), published 13 December 2024.
Reuters
09-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
LondonMetric to buy UK's Urban Logistics REIT in a $925 million deal
May 9 (Reuters) - British landlord LondonMetric (LMPL.L), opens new tab on Friday agreed to buy property investment firm Urban Logistics REIT (SHED.L), opens new tab in a deal, valuing the company at 698.9 million pounds ($924.99 million). ($1 = 0.7556 pounds)
