James' World 2

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It feels like I’m working every day just to survive. I’m really scared about the future. If things get any worse and prices go up further, I don’t know how I’ll be able to live.’

These are the words of Mary, a 45-year-old nurse from North London. Hers is the kind of response I’ve become accustomed to when I ask nurses about the cost of living crisis, and one that encapsulates just how tough things have become—not only for nurses but for workers across every sector, as the crisis continues to bite.

The fight for survival, as Mary describes it, has become more pronounced in the past year or so. But it’s been a problem for far longer, with NHS staff bearing the brunt of their sector being under-resourced and neglected for years. Between 2011 and 2021, NHS nurses’ average basic earnings fell by five percent in real terms, and excessive workloads have become a chronic issue. Now, with further real terms pay cuts on the cards, many have reached their breaking point.

‘I feel angry,’ says Mary. ‘NHS workers like me were classed as essential during the pandemic. Politicians applauded us and sang our praises, but when it comes to a pay rise, they change their tune quicker than anything.’

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Between 2011 and 2021, NHS nurses’ average basic earnings fell by five percent in real terms, and excessive workloads have become a chronic issue. (Getty Images)

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You know the holidays are here when Amazon, FedEx, and UPS delivery trucks flood the streets, dropping off packages of all shapes and sizes on doorsteps and in apartment lobbies. But this telltale sign of the holiday shopping season also means that porch pirates will be on the prowl, snatching up those packages faster than the Grinch on Christmas Eve.

In fact, 11 percent of Americans had at least one package stolen from their home in the previous year, according to a September 2021 Consumer Reports nationally representative survey (PDF) of 2,341 adults. Among that group, 64 percent had a package stolen at least twice in the previous year.

Our survey also found that a number of socio-demographic variables factor into whether you’re likely to have a package stolen. Package theft was more common in multifamily dwellings than single-family homes, as well as in urban areas (16 percent) than in suburban (9 percent) and rural areas (8 percent). It was also reported more frequently by younger individuals and lower-income households, with 21 percent of affected respondents making less than $30,000 per year and falling within the 18-to-29 age bracket, compared with 8 percent of those making $30,000+ per year and 9 percent of Americans 30 and older.

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Photo: iStock

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Melissa Heikkilä via Lensa

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Buying a home in the colder months is often a smart move, but this year is a bugger. A new report from real-estate firm Redfin shows that on average, a record 2% of the homes for sale on the U.S. market were pulled from listings every week in the 12 weeks leading up to Nov. 20. For buyers and sellers alike, that might sound alarming. Here is what’s going on.

Why is this happening?

Redfin analyzed MLS data from 43 of the 50 most populated metropolitan areas in the country, determining sellers are delisting their properties because they’re not getting offers at their preferred price—or in some cases, no offers at all. The monthly mortgage payment on the median-asking-price home is also 40% higher right now than it was a year ago.

While there might have been a housing market frenzy last year, it looks like that has really slowed down. Home prices spiked during the height of the pandemic, leading to “pandemic boomtowns,” but those locations—like Sacramento, Calif. and Austin, Texas—are seeing the biggest declines in listings now.

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Photo: pryzmat (Shutterstock)

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HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

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Lensa AI’s popularity has had a notable impact on the App Store’s Top Charts. The photo and video editing app recently went viral over its new “magic avatars” feature, powered by the open-source Stable Diffusion model, allowing users to turn their selfies into styled portraits of themselves as sci-fi, anime, or fantasy characters, among other artistic renderings. Consumer demand for the app, and for AI edits more broadly, has now pushed numerous other “AI” apps into the U.S. App Store’s Top Charts. As of Monday, the top three spots on the U.S. App Store are all held by AI photo editors, and even more AI art apps are newly ranking in the Top 100.

The No. 1 spot on the U.S. App Store, however, continues to be held by Lensa AI, which saw 12.6 million global installs in the first 11 days of December, up 600% from the 1.8 million installs it saw during a similar time frame in November (November 20 through November 30), according to new data from app store intelligence firm Sensor Tower. The U.S. accounted for 3.6 million of those new December installs, estimates indicate.

In fact, 8 out of the top 100 apps by downloads on the U.S. App Store were AI art apps during the December 1 through December 11 time frame, the firm’s analysis found.

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Image Credits: Lensa AI on Instagram

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PICTURE BOOKS

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