While the vast majority of people still say that adultery is wrong, studies in the United States suggest that infidelity among married people is increasing, particularly among older men and young couples. Notably, women appear to be closing the adultery gap: younger women appear to be cheating on their spouses nearly as often as men.

An ongoing study called the General Social Survey, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and based at the University of Chicago, shows that in any given year about 10 per cent of married people -- 12 per cent of men and 7 per cent of women -- say they had sex outside their marriage. However, a detailed analysis of this data by researchers at the University of Washington shows that the lifetime rate of infidelity for men over 60 increased from 20 per cent to 28 per cent between 1991 and 2006. For women over 60,… click here to read whole article and make comments

After rising steadily for a quarter of a century, to more than 100,000 a year, divorce numbers in Spain went into a clear decline earlier this year, when the meltdown of the country’s key property sector and the beginnings of the global financial crisis put an end to more than a decade of economic growth. With unemployment rising and house prices dropping, as many as 30 per cent of couples who might have divorced are hanging on. Some might even stay together permanently, says Madrid lawyer Antonio Prada. “The economic crisis would help to preserve marriages” in cases where the partners have at least friendly relations, he adds.

Couples who can’t stand the sight of each other, however, are resorting to “internet divorces” based on standard contracts supplied by law forms charging low fees. These create problems, says Prada, because they do not deal with the details of dividing property, child… click here to read whole article and make comments

To get a scientific picture of some of our social ills the United States is about to launch a $2.7 billion nationwide study that will follow more than 100,000 children from birth until the age of 21. Recruitment of pregnant women will start in January, says a spokesman for the federal agencies in charge of the research. Investigators hope to find explanations for the rising rates of premature births, childhood obesity, cancer, autism, endocrine disorders and behavioural problems. They will examine factors like genetics and child rearing, geography, exposure to chemicals, nutrition and pollution. Mothers will necessarily be involved; fathers will be encouraged but not required to take part.

Some experts say it is high time for the US to run a study like this -- studies of similar size and scope are under way in Britain, Denmark and Norway -- while others question its cost effectiveness compared with smaller, more… click here to read whole article and make comments

Slavery is dying a slow death in many parts of the world and children are often the ones who suffer most from its persistence. This week a west African court has found the government of Niger guilty of failing to protect a 12-year-old who was sold into slavery in a decision that may offer hope to thousands of others who are enslaved in the region.

Hadijatou Mani, who is now 24, was sold against her mother’s wishes in 1996 and was regularly sexually abused and beaten for a decade. In Niger slave status is passed down through generations, and Mani’s mother was also a slave. Mani became the “property” of a man in his 60s who had seven other slaves and she bore three of his children.

Niger, which, along with Mali, Mauritania and Sudan, has been under international pressure to put a stop to the… click here to read whole article and make comments

A liberal law and the lure of ready cash have seen teenage girls in Switzerland turning to prostitution to be able to afford expensive designer goods. “Label sex”, as it has been dubbed, is a stronger temptation for Swiss girls than for some others, because in their country prostitution is legal and the age of sexual consent is 16. The Swiss Child Protection Association is calling for this legal loophole to be closed by establishing a legal age for prostitution -- 18, as it is in France and Italy, while it is 21 in Germany. Otherwise, they say, Switzerland will become “a paradise for tourists seeking teenage sex”.

Girls wanting “pocket money” for designer dresses or expensive accessories advertise online or visit upmarket clubs. One Zurich nightclub even organised a theme event including 16-year-old guests. Online demand for young prostitutes is high and advertisements emphasise the fact that 16- and 17-year-olds… click here to read whole article and make comments

Besides electing a president on November 4, Americans in various states will be voting on other issues. Gay marriage is on the ballot in four states: Connecticut, where a high court decision legalising it could be reversed; Arizona; Florida; and California, where the state Supreme Court legalised gay marriage in May, but where voters have the chance to overturn that decision by supporting Proposition 8.

A week out from voting day, Proposition 8 seems to have almost equal numbers supporting and opposing it. Only a month ago a poll found the measure losing 55 per cent to 38 per cent among likely voters. But an October 17 poll showed that the measure is favoured 48 per cent to 45 per cent among likely voters. The poll’s margin of error, four per cent, makes the results a statistical tie. The measure needs a simple majority to pass.

Supporters, many of… click here to read whole article and make comments

It looks very bad, the study that shows Australian dads on average spending a measly six minutes alone with their kids Monday through Friday. Just over one minute a day! Overall, they spend just shy of one hour each working week caring for their kids, but 90 per cent of that care is done alongside the mother, social researcher Lyn Craig finds in a new paper, Fare Care, Father Share in International Perspective.

Thankfully, they spend longer with the kids at the weekend but, again, mostly as a family unit. And when they do look after the kids on their own, these laid-back dads rarely do “drudge work” such as feeding, bathing or taking them to and from school or childcare; no, the scoundrels grab the nice jobs like going to the park or to sport.

Meanwhile their wives are spending three hours a week just looking after the… click here to read whole article and make comments

The tendency of Generation X in Japan to value their careers above marriage is distressing their ageing parents, so much so that the parents have turned to match-making groups to find spouses for their adult children. Some 47 per cent of men and 32 per cent of women in their early 30s were unmarried in 2005 -- more than twice as many as in 1990. And most of these singles (70 per cent between 18 and 39) live with their parents. Japan has one of the lowest birth rates and oldest populations in the world.

Toko Shirakawa, author of the best-selling book, Konkatsu-Jidai, or The Times of Marriage Hunting -- subtitled “One in four young people will not be able to get married” -- says marriage in Japan has become a personal preference, not an essential part of life. Women who are now around 40 years old belong… click here to read whole article and make comments

Germany is agonising over its education system again. It gets a mediocre rating in the international PISA studies, and it sorts children too soon into academic and vocational “tracks” on the basis of performance that is largely determined by family background. Chancellor Angela has called a summit of education ministers from Germany’s 16 states, since they are the ones who control education. But economist and education researcher Ludger Woessmann, of the Ifo institute in Munich, fears that education will stay in its “rut” unless the federal government can call the states to account.

One solution, says Woessmann, is to give schools more autonomy in choosing their staff (they have none at present) and to have a more competitive system that gives parents choice. He would like to see private schools (there are very few in Germany) put on the same funding level as public schools -- that is,… click here to read whole article and make comments

Older Japanese men might be expected to cling to traditional social roles, but some are branching out in retirement to act as caregivers for the burgeoning ranks of elderly Japanese. Kohei Yoneyama, a former venture capital executive, started the Nagareyama Friendship Network over a decade ago along with five colleagues. Their mission is to enlist men who are finding that life after the office is short on meaningful activity. Care is not just something women should do, says Yoneyama.

As of March 2008, almost 22 per cent of Japan’s population was over age 65, a figure that is expected to double by 2050. Some 13 million Japanese are over 75 and more than 36,000 are centenarians. Meanwhile, a plunging birth rate is eating away at younger labour ranks. Government responded in 1998 with a law to support non-profit activities like… click here to read whole article and make comments