Latest news with #culturalshift
Telegraph
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
This is how mass migration will change Britain beyond recognition
Britain will be unrecognisable by the end of this century. Unless things change, and change fast, the population of the UK will be permanently transformed by mass immigration. White Britons will become a minority by the year 2063. The foreign-born and their immediate descendants will become a majority by 2079. And nearly one in four people in the UK will be following Islam by the year 2100; this figure would rise to around one in three among under-40s. Many people struggle to make sense of the pace and scale of these changes. They ask how a nation can be transformed this fast without the consent of the governed. But, last week, brand new data from the Office for National Statistics has made it abundantly clear that these trends are already well underway. The findings are indeed shocking: more than one in three babies that were born in England and Wales last year have mothers who were not born in the UK; this rises to more than 40 per cent for babies in England, a record high and up by nearly 10-points in less than a decade. London, obviously, is at the forefront of these dramatic shifts. All six areas where 80 per cent or more of babies have at least one foreign-born parent are in the capital, with the City of London, Brent, Newham, Harrow, Ealing, and Westminster experiencing the most profound changes. But such is the legacy of mass immigration, since it began under New Labour and was then mainstreamed by the Tories, that lots of areas outside London are now also witnessing similar changes. If you exclude London, for instance, the one place in the country that has the highest share of babies who have at least one foreign-born parent is Luton: the figure there is an astonishing 79 per cent.
NHK
01-07-2025
- General
- NHK
Riding the rapids on Japan's last log rafts
Deep in rural Wakayama, a centuries-old river rafting tradition is making waves with its first-ever female crew member steering both the raft and a cultural shift.
Bloomberg
20-06-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
UK House of Commons Approves Legalization of Assisted Dying
The UK's House of Commons voted to legalize assisted dying on Friday, in a move that is likely to usher in a significant cultural shift over how to handle the treatment of those with terminal illnesses. The measure was passed by a 314-to-291 vote following hours of debate in Parliament, when some members shared their own emotional accounts of loved ones suffering through terminal illnesses. It will now have to go through the House of Lords, which could choose to amend it further but historically has tended not to block legislation passed by the elected house.
Bloomberg
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
UK Lawmakers Set Final Vote on Legalization of Assisted Dying
The UK's House of Commons will hold a final vote on Friday on whether to allow assisted dying, a move that could usher in a significant cultural shift over how to handle those with terminal illnesses. The measure will go through its third reading with members of Parliament, with the outcome of the vote expected by 2.30 pm. While Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, said she was 'confident' it would pass, several of her colleagues said the result would be too close to call.
CNA
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
Why I use Gen Z and Gen Alpha lingo with my kids, even when they roll their eyes
'Alright, I think I totally nailed that and aura farmed, am I right?' I said, beaming with pride at the back-cam wefie I'd just taken that had actually turned out well. My 16-year-old daughter Kirsten, bless her, fought off every instinct to roll her eyes – an effort I appreciated deeply – and replied with a straight face: 'No, actually. Just by saying that, you lost aura points.' 'Huh, so it wasn't sigma?' I asked, grinning. 'You didn't like the rizz-sults?' This time, her eye roll came not as a conscious decision but a gag reflex. 'Dad,' she said. 'Just. Stop.' 'Okay, merry rizzmas,' I muttered, dashing away before I cracked myself up entirely. BOOMERS ARE OKAY I envy boomers. And I don't mean that sarcastically. It's not so much for their ability to craft and broadcast 'Good Morning, God Bless You' WhatsApp messages faster than they can open the app, but their complete, unadulterated embrace of being… uncool. I'm talking about the (mostly) utter lack of desire to stay relevant in the face of contemporary cultural shifts – whether it's fashion, pop culture, or TikTok. There's a certain beauty in being completely disconnected from new fads and trends. These are people living their best life, in a very real way. But Gen X dads like me grew up with the currency of cool as a core key performance indicator of our self-identity. It's partly us wanting to define ourselves outside of our parents, and partly our unique positioning as a generation birthed at the dawn of consumerism and globalisation. We grew up with movies centred on exploring the idea and value of 'cool' – Back to the Future, Grease and more. We wanted to 'be like Mike', whether it was Michael Jordan in his Nikes or Michael Jackson with his smooth moves. TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL So here's the tension: I know I don't need to be cool to be a good dad – but still, I can't help but try. And yes, sometimes that effort backfires in the form of second-hand embarrassment (or, occasionally, first-hand). But recently, as I try to keep up with a whole new host of Gen Z and Gen Alpha lingo, I've been realising that this struggle goes beyond the superficial. It's not about being cool for cool's sake. Let's be honest – if you're over 40, trying to make conversation with your own dad often felt like hitting a tennis ball against a wall, but the ball's been made entirely out of cotton wool. You'd serve up a topic, hoping for some traction – and it would hit the wall sadly, and fall lamely to the floor: 'Dad, I saw Mission: Impossible today, it was so good!' 'Oh, is it?' It's even worse if they're the ones serving. 'So… how's school?' 'Did you eat already?' That was pretty much the range. I appreciate the effort – but I don't want that for my own kids. I don't want to be a well-meaning but boring dad armed only with mundane questions that go nowhere. So I try – probably too hard at times – to speak their language, quite literally. My attempts to drop Gen Z lingo aren't about trying to impress anyone. At 45, the only thing I'm 'serving' are bad puns and lame jokes. But it is an attempt at connection. An awkward, cringey, sometimes-effective olive branch. The memes we share, the TikToks we laugh at together, the post-mortem chats after another episode of The Mandalorian – these moments mean something. They're small windows into my kids' world. They let me in, just a little. And in the awkward dance of parenting three teenagers (and two preteens!), the older they get, the more that little bit matters. I TRIED SO HARD, AND GOT SO FAR But here's the catch: There's a fine line between showing interest and trying too hard. There's a version of the 'cool dad' that's plain exhausting – the one who's constantly trying to stay relevant, who shows up at school pickup with a backwards cap and ironic slang, skateboard propped over one shoulder like a youth pastor who went too deep on Urban Dictionary. At a certain point, we have to accept that our cultural peak has passed. That's okay. Coolness is a moving target, and by the time we figure out what's in, it's probably already out. (It's probably out precisely because we figured it out.) So maybe the better question is: What does being a good dad look like now, in the age of TikTok and K-pop? It's not about relevance. It's about relationship. And sometimes, that means exchanges looks like this: 'Man, New Jeans' Super Shy is super catchy huh?' 'Dad. That was like, two billion years ago.' 'Yup, but like, aren't they super slay?' 'Oh, please no.' 'By the way, I did get new jeans.' That last random line actually got a stifled chuckle from her. Cue another small win for Gen X dads – connection topped off with a hint of cringe is still connection. THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT I may not be the authority on rizz or sigma energy. My jokes may be mid at best. But I'm trying. And I think our kids see that, even when they're groaning and sighing through our cringe. There's a kind of dignity in ageing out of the need to be cool. But there's also a kind of love in making the attempt now and then, even if it's obviously 'not it'. It's not about being cool – our kids don't need us to be cool. It's about caring enough to try and connect with them on their level. So, must I be a cool dad to be a good dad? Nah. But if misusing Gen Z slang helps keep the conversation going with my kids, I'll gladly take the L. Who knows – maybe I could even earn back a few aura points.
