This is due to a higher proportion of money being tied up in assets such as life assurance and pension funds which now

This is due to a higher proportion of money being tied up in assets such as life assurance and pension funds, which now account for one-third of all personal wealth. As a result, most people do not feel as “well off” as in the past.The biggest concern for 20- to 34-year-olds is money limiting their lifestyle, though for 35- to 54-year-olds this is superseded by health.Areas that are likely to see good rates of growth in the long term included spending on domestic help and garden help, which have increased by 294 per cent over the past 10 years, medical insurance, which is up by 190 per cent, and education – up 293 per cent.Men, particularly, are having to adapt to a changing society where more people live alone instead of moving from the parental home to the marital home. Only 12 per cent of men do not usually shop for groceries, but they are still more disorganised and depend on the availability of stores with long opening hours.Men are also more likely to eat takeaways because they cannot be bothered to cook, and convenience foods now account for one-quarter of in-home food sales. People are also eating out more, with 25 per cent claiming to eat out regularly.British Lifestyles 1997; Mintel, 0171 606 6000; pounds 995Where we spend our cash% of % changeexpenditure current terms1996 1986-96 Domestic & garden help 0.9 +294Educational fees 1.4 +293Secondary vehicles 0.6 +239House purchase 13.9 +221Cinema 0.1 +210Sickness & accidentinsurance 0.5 +210Medical insurance 0.4 +190Gambling (losses) 1.3 +189Recorded music &musical instruments 0.9 +177Source: Mintel. Britain is producing a large new generation of “latchkey” children. According to a national survey, 350,000 five- to 11-year-olds, or 9 per cent of primary-school children, go home to an empty house and watch television. The conclusions, published yesterday, are from a report by the Kids’ Clubs Network, a voluntary group which organises after-school childcare.

The findings are described as a “situation of unease”, with children “becoming more isolated” and “tempted into crime through boredom and lack of amenities”.
Most parents questioned for the report agreed the life of a latchkey child was “lonely and potentially dangerous”, with one-third of all parents worried about what happened to their child after school hours.With 70 per cent of mothers with primary-school children working, the report says that in addition to the growth of latchkey kids, a quarter of all primary-school children now go to and from school without adult supervision.Coming after recent research on the negative effects of working parents on children’s educational development, the findings are likely to add to the debate on childcare. At a conference in London yesterday to launch the latest research, Anne Longfield, the director of Kids’ Clubs Network, said: “We can’t on the one hand encourage parents to take up employment and training and yet ignore the lack of after-school childcare provision.”The 9 per cent figure comes from research which said 6 per cent of children were “definitely left alone” but added that the true figure, given parents who masked the situation, pushed it up to 9 per cent.At the conference, Labour’s education spokesman, David Blunkett, called for the “development of a national network of after-school clubs to ensure that all children are cared for in a safe and stimulating environment at the end of the school day”. Mr Blunkett widened Tony Blair’s recent call for homework centres by saying that “after-school clubs, together with after-school sport and leisure, are the antidote to the latchkey kid waiting in an empty house …”Although Labour has said it intends to make after-school care a priority, expanding the voluntary sector in conjunction with the Government, no specific targets or funding have yet been given.. The Tories went on the offensive yesterday, attacking Labour over the revelations of junketing by Labour councillors in Doncaster and suggesting that it was typical of waste by the party in local government.

The Independent revealed yesterday that members of Doncaster’s ruling Labour group had been on expensive foreign trips and taken drunken “working lunches” costing pounds 50 per head.
The Conservative party chairman, Brian Mawhinney said: “Doncaster Labour councillors represent new Labour Party in power The rest of the country should learn the lesson. It’s not what Labour leaders say, its what Labour politicians do when they are in power that represents the danger to this country.”The Tories tried to widen the attack by pointing out that Labour councils have increased the amount of taxpayers’ money they give to councillors and allowances have gone up in areas controlled by Labour or the Liberal Democrats. They said Cardiff council had even set up a working party to examine whether councillors should receive redundancy pay if voted out of office.Labour played down the affair, merely calling for a copy of the report from the district auditor containing many of the criticisms. A spokesman for the party’s North and Yorkshire office said: “Once we have gone through the report, we shall then be recommending action to be taken in relation to these councillors involved.”The party was also dithering over the selection process for the Don Valley constituency, with Tony Sellars emerging as the local favourite.

Mr Sellars, chairman of the Doncaster Labour group, has won the first two nominations by local ward parties for the seat which is vacant because of the death last month of the sitting MP, Martin Redmond. The Independent yesterday said Mr Sellars had been one of a number of councillors who had taken trips abroad on council taxpayers’ money and that the district auditor was concerned about lack of proper authorisation for the trips.While publicly the party cannot rule out Mr Sellars’ candidature, it is unlikely he will be placed on the final shortlist drawn up next week by the National Executive Committee. The Independent has learned that Labour Party HQ is planning to block the candidature of any councillors who have been on unauthorised foreign trips.. The Government is planning massive new warehouses to store every piece of electronic pop culture being produced. Under proposals made public yesterday, Spice Girls CDs, television sitcoms and CD-Rom games would be ranked alongside Jane Austen and the classics of English literature by a legal obligation that they be stored for posterity.
At present there is a legal requirement that every new book be deposited with the British Library. But there is no obligation on record companies, CD-Rom producers, film makers and commercial television channels to deposit their products. Yesterday the Government signalled its intention to change this because of the explosion in electronic information, admitting it would be necessary to build massive storage spaces.National heritage minister Iain Sproat regretted that some early episodes of Dad’s Army had been lost because of the lack of a legal requirement to keep them.

He had no problems with the work of the Sex Pistols being stored for posterity.”Our descendants should be exposed to the Sex Pistols,” he said. “All these things should be kept, because it’s extremely important looking at the sociology of the United Kingdom today. The other reason why we must store Oasis, or Blur, or the Spice Girls, is for the pleasure of future generations, who will gain entertainment and instruction by hearing or watching what we enjoy today.”Even one-hit wonders should have their one album legally deposited, he said: “The reason why a one-hit wonder was a success, but never a success hereafter, would be of interest to future sociologists.”He cited the example of the poet Robert Herrick, who was not widely read or appreciated for 200 years after his death. “Who are we to say something is rubbish?” Mr Sproat asked.While he advocated the mass storage of pop records and CD-Roms, Mr Sproat questioned whether too many books were being kept. “We might want to ask if the British Library should be keeping every new edition of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice,” he said.At present, there are voluntary arrangements for the deposit of films, videos and sound recordings. All BBC output is archived, but only about 30 per cent of the output of commercial channels.. Sixth-formers will be able to study for broader and better A-levels from next year, but this year’s 18-year-olds can be confident that the standard of their exams is as high as ever.