Category: English

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tobias Hillenbrand, PhD candidate, Innovation, Economics, Governance and Sustainable Development, UNU-MERIT, United Nations University

Across the EU, immigration is one of the most divisive topics in politics today. Germany, a country once known for its “Willkommenskultur” (welcome culture), is a case in point.

The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has recently said that Syrians no longer have “grounds for asylum in Germany”, and that they will be encouraged to return voluntarily. Some could also be deported in the near future.

Polling suggests that tough approaches to immigration resonate well with the public, reflecting a broader shift toward more negative immigration attitudes.

What determines whether people in a host country like Germany welcome or reject refugees? This is what my colleagues Bruno Martorano, Laura Metzger and Melissa Siegel and I sought to better understand in a recent paper.

Through a survey experiment, we tested how different factors would affect whether participants express concern for refugees’ wellbeing, or consider them a threat.

The study was designed to assess the effects of different factors on people’s attitudes towards refugees. For example, whether a participant held humanitarian values (is committed to help fellow humans in need). We measured this based on their responses to a frequently-used set of four questions. Humanitarian considerations have received little attention in earlier studies in this area.

We also measured if people’s views changed depending on the amount of adversity refugees faced (such as whether they were fleeing war), and the personal characteristics of the refugees – their age and gender, and whether they were part of families.

We surveyed more than 2,000 participants in 2023, using short, professionally-produced videos about Syrian refugees in Turkish refugee camps.

Some participants watched a control video, which provided only some background information. Others watched one of four videos: two emphasised the humanitarian situation of Syrian refugees in refugee camps in Turkey, the other two stressed challenges that the immigration of these refugees may imply for German society.

One of the “humanitarian message” videos and one of the “threat message” videos focused on families with small children among the refugees. The other two highlighted young refugee men.

After they watched the videos, we surveyed respondents about their views and concerns about the refugees.

Humanitarian compassion

On average, respondents overall showed a moderate level of concern for the wellbeing of Syrian refugees. They were somewhat more worried about the impact on Germany’s welfare system, security and cultural life. Fears that refugees might take away jobs were less common.

We identified a strong correlation between how humanitarian someone generally is, and the compassion that respondent expressed toward the refugees. We also found that exposure to short videos highlighting the humanitarian plight of refugees made participants care significantly more for most aspects of refugees’ wellbeing, compared to those who only saw the control video.

Additionally, we gave participants the possibility to sign pro-refugee policy petitions within the survey. Only a quarter of respondents overall signed a petition calling for increased funding for Syrian refugees abroad. An even smaller share supported a petition for more admissions of Syrians to Germany. But highlighting the humanitarian plight of refugees largely increased the share of respondents advocating for more support for refugees abroad.

The limits of this kind of messaging were also apparent. Watching the humanitarian videos did nothing to reduce immigration-related fears, nor did it increase acceptance for allowing refugees into the country.

Scepticism of (some) refugees

Those who watched videos of young male refugees were significantly less likely to support allowing more refugees into the country. Our data suggests that this is likely due to heightened concerns about negative cultural effects among those who viewed a video featuring young refugee men, rather than economic concerns or participants feeling more physically threatened.

Those who watched the videos highlighting families were more concerned about the refugees’ safety. Yet, they also expressed greater concerns that refugees may represent a burden for the welfare state.

The videos did not impact all respondents equally. For example, among respondents who identified as politically leftwing, seeing a video with a humanitarian message was associated with fewer cultural concerns about immigration, compared to the control group. For right-leaning respondents, we observed the opposite: seeing one of the humanitarian videos was associated with more concerns.

In addition, it was remarkable how differently east and west Germans reacted to our experiment. The political legacy of eastern Germany – the region which used to be the socialist authoritarian German Democratic Republic (GDR) until 1990 – is relevant in explaining persistent differences between the eastern and western German populations. It has been well established that east and west Germans differ in their values, preferences and voting behaviour, including support for the anti-immigration party AfD.

While similar at baseline, we found that exposure to the four videos affected the views of east Germans more negatively than those of west Germans, regardless of the exact message or the group of refugees the video highlighted. For example, focusing on refugee families largely boosted the share of west Germans who supported increasing support for refugees abroad. Among east Germans though, it had if anything the reverse effect.

It was remarkable how different these populations reacted to the very same message. Their reactions diverge more strongly than across any other divide, such as age or education.

Taken together, our results suggest that people’s opinions on immigration are more complex than a simple pro- v anti-immigration split. Whether a political message is effective or not – that is, whether it changes minds – depends on the framing of the message itself, as well as the views and values held by the people receiving that message.

Tobias Hillenbrand does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. What makes people welcome or reject refugees? What research in Germany reveals – https://theconversation.com/what-makes-people-welcome-or-reject-refugees-what-research-in-germany-reveals-269436

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Paul Hunter, Professor of Medicine, University of East Anglia

With flu season arriving early and NHS leaders encouraging people with symptoms to wear masks in public, a question arises: do masks actually work against the flu?

The short answer is that the evidence remains surprisingly weak. Studies conducted before the COVID pandemic generally found that masks made little to no difference in the spread of flu in everyday settings. There is little reason to think this has changed, although the COVID pandemic has taught us more about when masks can be helpful in reducing the spread of respiratory diseases.

This matters because flu cases began rising earlier than usual this year and are higher than we would normally expect at this point in the season.

While the number of people being admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of flu is still at moderate levels, the number of daily admissions is increasing. There are real concerns that we are heading towards an especially bad winter. This year, Australia suffered its worst flu season in at least 20 years.

The main flu strain currently circulating in the UK is a type of influenza A known as H3N2 – subclade K. This strain probably appeared first in the US, from where it has spread globally, extending the flu season in Australia and New Zealand and causing the early start of the flu season in Europe.

Crucially, this strain is quite different from the one used in this year’s vaccine. This means the vaccine may be less effective at preventing infection, although it should still help protect against severe illness.

Against this backdrop, Daniel Elkeles, the chief executive of NHS Providers, told Times Radio that if you’re coughing and sneezing “then you must wear a mask when you’re in public spaces, including on public transport, to stop the chances of you giving your virus to somebody else”.

The government guidance is less forthright, with a government spokesperson stating that people should consider wearing a mask in such circumstances, not that they must wear one.

Before the COVID pandemic, there had been several studies investigating the benefits of face coverings for respiratory viruses, including influenza. The most thorough of those reviews concluded that overall, masks made little or no difference to the spread of flu, either in the home or in public places.

They also concluded that N95 masks (tight-fitting, high-filtration masks) were no better than surgical masks in everyday settings. However, the authors were only able to identify a single low-quality study to support this finding.

In a review my colleagues and I conducted on the effectiveness of masks on the spread of respiratory infections prior to COVID, we found a similar poor effect overall. But individual studies in the review often gave very different results to each other.

Weaker studies were more likely to suggest masks work

Some studies suggested a strong protective effect, while others showed greater infection risk when people wore masks. Better-quality studies, such as randomised trials, generally found little or no benefit. In contrast, weaker study designs were more likely to suggest that masks worked.

The COVID pandemic added new evidence. The most robust recent review of masks and COVID in the community concluded that mask wearing was associated with a reduced risk of COVID transmission outside of healthcare settings. There was insufficient evidence to comment on the relative effectiveness of N95 respirator masks compared to standard surgical masks in public spaces, but in hospitals the balance of evidence was that there was little difference between the two types of mask.

These real-world studies contrast sharply with laboratory studies, which have generally found masks to be highly effective at reducing the amount of virus people release into the air and showing that properly fitted N95 masks are more effective than surgical masks for COVID and flu.

In the flu study, the researchers reported that a properly fitted N95 mask reduced the amount of flu virus released into the air by more than 94%. However, a poorly fitting N95 mask performed no better than an ordinary surgical mask – a crucial finding that suggests the gap between laboratory and real-world effectiveness may come down to how people actually wear masks.

The COVID lesson

Some of the most convincing evidence for the effectiveness of masks at preventing COVID was the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) COVID infection survey. In this survey, up to 150,000 people were screened every two weeks for the virus whether or not they had symptoms. For part of the time, the survey also collected data on mask wearing.

My colleagues and I analysed data from the ONS survey and concluded that, in adults, always wearing a mask at work or in enclosed spaces – or both – was associated with about a 20% reduction in the risk of catching COVID during the time the delta variant was the dominant strain of the virus. But after the appearance of the omicron variant, there was little if any reduced risk in mask wearers.

In children, mask wearing was associated with less of a reduction in risk of testing positive for COVID, and during the omicron period there was even a small increased risk.

Evidence for the value of masks for flu remains less clear, suggesting little if any benefit. Nevertheless, I would still encourage people who are at risk of severe disease if they catch the flu to wear a mask in crowded indoor environments – especially if they have not yet received the vaccine.

If someone is ill with the flu, it is best that they should stay at home. If they have to go out into crowded indoor environments, then I would also encourage them to wear a mask. I would not encourage mask wearing in children, given the lack of clear benefit and potential for improper use.

For most people, the overall evidence does not support routine mask wearing. I would also not encourage the general public to wear N95 masks because these masks need to be properly fitted for them to be effective. Nevertheless, wearing a mask is a personal decision, and people should be free to decide on what makes them feel most comfortable.

Paul Hunter consults for the World Health Organization. He receives funding from National Institute for Health Research and has received funding from the World Health Organization and the European Regional Development Fund

– ref. As flu cases spike, is it time to start wearing masks again? – https://theconversation.com/as-flu-cases-spike-is-it-time-to-start-wearing-masks-again-271904

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Francesca Spiga, Research Fellow in Research Synthesis, University of Bristol

Cannabis dependence is on the rise, according to the latest data on drug use and dependence published by NHS England.

Although cannabis use has remained stable over the past decade in England and Wales, dependence on the drug has risen significantly. In 2024, 6.7% of people aged 16 to 64 showed signs of drug dependence – compared with only 3.8% in 2014. This rise in drug dependence has mainly been attributed to an increase in the number of adults reporting cannabis dependence.

In England’s substance misuse treatment services alone, 86% of children aged 14-17 enrolled in treatment between 2024 and 2025 were there for cannabis problems – making it by far the most commonly used substance among young people.

Trends are slightly different in adults, with 21% of those in treatment reporting issues with cannabis use alongside opiates. Among people entering treatment for substance misuse, 22.2% were there for cannabis problems – continuing a steady climb since 2022 (20.9%).

Cannabis is often seen as relatively harmless, but these figures tell a different story. For some, cannabis use becomes difficult to control – interfering with work, relationships and mental health. It can also lead to cannabis use disorder, a serious condition that, due to its relatively mild perceived physical harms, receives far less attention than other substance use disorders.

What is cannabis use disorder?

Cannabis remains the most commonly used illicit drug in the UK. While many people use it without major problems, some develop patterns of harmful or dependent use.

Cannabis use disorder is defined by symptoms such as difficulty cutting down cannabis use, spending excessive time using or recovering from use, and continuing to use cannabis despite negative consequences. These problems can affect education, employment and relationships, and are linked to mental health issues such as psychosis and depression.

Read more:
What is cannabis use disorder? And how do you know if you have a problem?

Despite these risks, cannabis is often perceived as “safe” compared to other drugs. The perception that cannabis doesn’t cause serious problems increases the risk of use and decreases the motivation to stop. This perception may partly explain why treatment services are now seeing such high numbers of young people with cannabis-related problems.

The latest ONS figures highlight a persistent public health challenge – one that requires more than just awareness.

Can cannabis use disorder be treated?

Treatment for cannabis use disorder isn’t straightforward. Unlike opioid dependence, there are no approved drug-based treatments for cannabis problems.

Current UK clinical guidelines recommend psychosocial interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, as first-line options. But the evidence base for these therapies is surprisingly thin. Studies are small, inconsistent and often measure success in different ways – making it hard to know what really works.

Our research group recently reviewed all available trials of psychosocial and pharmacological treatments for cannabis use disorder.

We found that while psychosocial approaches such as cognitive behaviour therapy (teaching people practical strategies to change unhelpful thoughts and actions and boost motivation) and acceptance-based approaches (teaching skills to manage difficult emotions, accept challenging thoughts and stay focused on the present moment) show promise, the benefits are modest and vary widely between studies.

Other psychological strategies such as contingency management (offering rewards for meeting treatment goals) have shown some success for other substance use disorders (such as cocaine and amphetamine). But the evidence for cannabis is limited.

The benefits of prescription drug treatments for cannabis use disorder remain uncertain. No drug that has been investigated to date, including antidepressants and cannabinoid agonists (which mimic the effects of cannabis), have produced convincing results.

In short, while there are some encouraging findings, the research base is still too limited to draw firm conclusions about which interventions work best. This leaves doctors and patients with uncertainty and limited guidance on treatments.

Where do we go from here?

The rise in cannabis-related treatment demand comes at a time when recreational cannabis use is highly common and high-potency products are increasingly available. This means that it could become a more common problem, which is why developing a treatment base is so important.

But a challenge researchers face in developing suitable treatments for cannabis use disorder is deciding what counts as a good outcome.

Many trials aim to have participants achieve abstinence (complete cessation of cannabis use) – but this isn’t always realistic or even what people want. For some, reducing use rather than stopping completely can still improve mental health and quality of life.

Yet there’s no universal agreement on what constitutes meaningful change. This matters because treatment goals should reflect what people actually value. If someone wants to cut down rather than quit, measuring success only by abstinence risks overlooking meaningful progress.

So until researchers agree on a core outcome set, comparing studies and developing treatment guidelines will remain difficult.

To ensure that support is based on robust evidence, we need more research, better and bigger trials and a clearer understanding of what works – and for whom.

The good news is that with growing recognition of cannabis use disorder as a genuine public health concern, researchers have an opportunity to shape a more effective and compassionate response.

For those personally affected by cannabis use disorders, psychosocial therapies are still the most supported options. Opening a non-judgemental conversation, encouraging professional support and staying informed about what treatments are available can make a real difference.

Francesca Spiga is funded by the NIHR Evidence Synthesis Programme. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Monika Halicka is funded by the NIHR Evidence Synthesis Programme. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

– ref. Cannabis dependence is rising in England and Wales – but treatment is lagging – https://theconversation.com/cannabis-dependence-is-rising-in-england-and-wales-but-treatment-is-lagging-271642

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Richard Butler, Professor of Palaeobiology, University of Birmingham

In 2025, dinosaurs were everywhere. In May, the BBC revived their landmark series Walking With Dinosaurs, while July saw the release of Jurassic World Rebirth, the seventh film in the extinction-proof Jurassic Park franchise.

Rising auction prices for dinosaur skeletons were a rich source of media headlines and academic concern. And a record-breaking number of visitors (6.3 million in 2024–2025) flocked to the Natural History Museum in London, where dinosaurs are a key draw.

A golden era in dinosaur science is driving this fascination with dinosaurs. Around 1,400 dinosaur species are now known from more than 90 countries, with the rate of discovery accelerating in the last two decades. The year 2025 has so far seen the discovery of 44 new dinosaur species – nearly one a week.

Many new discoveries come from palaeontological hotspots, such as Argentina, China, Mongolia and the US, but dinosaur fossils are also being found in many other places, from a Serbian village to the rainswept coast of north-west Scotland. Even as a researcher, it is hard to keep track, but here is a personal view of some of the year’s highlights.

Zavacephale rinpoche

Some fossils are so exciting that when first shown at academic conferences, they draw audible gasps even from experienced palaeontologists. Zavacephale is one of these. The stunning skeleton of this one-metre-long plant-eating dinosaur was discovered in 110-million-year-old rocks in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and described by palaeontologist Tsogtbaatar Chinzorig and colleagues.

Zavacephale is the oldest known member of the pachycephalosaurs, a group of dinosaurs famed for their domed skulls, probably used to butt heads like today’s bighorn sheep. Pachycephalosaurs have long been one of the most enigmatic dinosaur groups, and the discovery of Zavacephale is critical to understanding their early evolution.

Istiorachis macarthurae

Dinosaur fossils have been common discoveries in the rapidly eroding Cretaceous Period-aged cliffs of the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, for nearly two centuries. Yet, even here, there is much to learn. Jeremy Lockwood, a retired doctor turned dinosaur expert, has since 2021 named three new species of large ornithopods, one of the most common groups of plant-eating dinosaurs. These new species are closely related to Iguanodon, a four-legged ornithopod from Belgium with a very distinctive thumb spike.

Lockwood’s latest discovery, the six-metre-long Istiorachis, is another herbivorous ornithopod with a striking sail-like structure running along its back. This sail may have been a display structure used to attract mates and to deter predators by making this 128-million-year-old animal look bigger.

Spicomellus afer

Spicomellus was named in 2021 based on an incomplete rib from 165-million-year-old rocks in Morocco. It is a rib unlike that in any other animal, alive or extinct, with a series of long spines fused to its surface. In 2025, I was part of a team led by researcher Susie Maidment that described a much more complete skeleton. It revealed one of the strangest dinosaurs ever discovered.

The new fossils show that Spicomellus is the oldest known member of the ankylosaurs, heavily armoured, low and squat plant-eaters described by Maidment as resembling “walking coffee tables”.

Spicomellus is characterised by its bizarre armour, bristling with long spines all over the body, including a bony collar around the neck with spines the length of golf clubs sticking out of it. Dubbed the “punk rock dinosaur” by the BBC, Spicomellus is changing our understanding of ankylosaur evolution, but also highlighting the importance of the Moroccan fossil record.

Nanotyrannus lethaeus

For many years, one of the fiercest debates in dinosaur palaeontology has been about Nanotyrannus, a 66-million-year-old predator from Montana in the US. Nanotyrannus was first named in 1988, and suggested to be a small tyrannosaurid, around 5m long, that lived alongside the giant Tyrannosaurus rex. But many other palaeontologists disagreed, suggesting that fossils of Nanotyrannus were just young individuals of T rex.

In 2025, palaeontologists Lindsay Zanno and James Napoli published a description of a new Nanotyrannus fossil specimen, preserved as part of the Duelling Dinosaurs fossil alongside a herbivorous Triceratops. They showed that this Nanotyrannus was nearly an adult, but also that it was different from T rex in lots of ways that cannot be explained by growth, including a longer hand.

A subsequent study on the original Nanotyrannus demonstrated that this specimen was also fully grown. Together, these studies end a 35-year-long controversy and reveal Nanotyrannus as a slender, agile pursuit predator, built for speed.

Huayracursor jaguensis

Gigantic, four-legged, long-necked, plant-eating sauropod dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, such as Brachiosaurus, were the largest animals to ever walk the Earth, weighing up to 70 tonnes (equivalent of 12 African elephants). The year 2025 saw many new sauropod discoveries, including a Jurassic Highway of trackways announced by our team from a quarry in Oxfordshire, UK.

Important new information on sauropod origins came from the Triassic Period rocks of Argentina, long a key source of dinosaur discoveries. The 2m long Huayracursor was described from 228-million-year-old rocks in the Andes, making it one of the oldest known sauropod ancestors. It has a much longer neck than other species from the dawn of dinosaur evolution, revealing the earliest stages in the evolution of the extreme neck elongation seen in later sauropods.

The year 2025 was another remarkable year for dinosaur discovery and 2026 will have a lot to live up to. But I’m looking forward to seeing what surprises the new year brings.

Richard Butler receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust, the European Commission and the British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies.

– ref. The best dinosaur discoveries of 2025 – https://theconversation.com/the-best-dinosaur-discoveries-of-2025-271224

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michal Chmiel, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London

The Christmas advert season has officially started, and Richard Curtis’s genius is all around – again.

From the carrot expressing love on a placard in the Aldi advert, to the moment when Keira Knightley finally says yes to Joe Wilkinson (and to his food) in the Waitrose commercial, the Love Actually film seems to be everywhere in Christmas adverts. The spending spirit is being neatly squeezed into our minds, just like the extra syllable in the original lyrics of the Love Is All Around anthem.

These adverts are trying to tap into our growing loneliness and desire for togetherness and to persuade us that the best way to get it is to spend money on gifts. In the Pandora advert, for example, the boy character plans a Christmas gift for his mother to the sound of the Beach Boys hit song God Only Knows, which could be intended to remind us of the ending of Love Actually in the arrivals hall at Heathrow airport.

It’s no surprise that advertisers use works of fiction to reconnect us with past memories of joy and happiness. Take Roald Dahl’s BFG, for example, in Sainsbury’s Christmas 2025 TV ad. During Christmas, when we listen to familiar tunes or watch films together, we often experience a sense of togetherness, recognising that we share more than we disagree on.

Love Actually is an example of a cultural phenomenon that many people in the UK share nostalgic feelings towards, which evokes a feeling of belonging in us. We often respond in the same way to the movements and dialogue of Knightley, Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson, and we seem to feel united in our responses.

Once we form a connection between Love Actually or BFG and pleasant feelings associated with watching or reading them, advertisers can use the familiar songs, scenes or characters to borrow the connected positive feelings and shape our responses to their ads.

This happens because of the wiring of the impulsive system, which is often referred to as the hot system, which is a metaphor coined by psychologists to explain why we respond with predictable actions or thoughts to familiar content. Much of human behaviour is automatic. In familiar situations, we tend to act in a routine or habitual way.

Just as a Christmas carol can make us nostalgic for past Christmases, the Love Actually scene in which Grant’s character dances to Jump (For My Love) after defending matters important to Britain can make us feel happy and proud. The feeling of moments that make us proud has been recreated by Google Pixel Ad in another attempt to invoke the spirit of Love Actually.

Our willingness to buy things to reconnect with positive memories from the past is not irrational. When we experience happiness, we want to hold on to that feeling, and buying goods is a way of prolonging this state, as one 2022 study showed. If something makes us happy, such as buying goods, we do exactly that.

All those familiar movie moments, tunes and purchases can make us feel united. The need to belong and feel connected is one of the fundamental human motivations. We need stable and meaningful relationships. Sadly, there are fewer chances to meet up now that more people are working from home. John Lewis’s advert offers us a way of reconnecting: buying a gift when “you can’t find words”.

The small but significant innovations that have shaped the way we spend our working days and weekends have also changed the way we communicate. Social media was another development of the first decade of the 21st century that seemed to enable social contact while exposing us to a new set of psychological threats.

One of these was a desire to feel popular on social media. This is why, together with media communication scholar Gareth Thompson, I coined the term digital peacocks. Just like peacocks, digital poseurs post content to attract attention and feel recognised.

The combination of focusing on ourselves and the need for recognition from others could indicate narcissistic tendencies, leading us to spend more money on unnecessary purchases. Why are we responding in this way?

One possible explanation is the feeling of exhaustion caused by information coming at us from all directions, and the experience of division and loneliness. According to a 2018 study, loneliness leads us to focus disproportionately on ourselves.
Adverts that we watch outside of the unifying Christmas period do not help with that. (You are unique! You’re so much better than everyone else – doesn’t that sound familiar?)

As a 2022 study of narcissists and their attraction to luxury goods found, the more unique we feel, the more we feel the urge to demonstrate this through
unnecessary purchases. However, this is an attempt to address a psychological need with material items.

Gifts are fine but conversation is even better

It would be a mistake to think that social connections are only about having a lot of people around who are similar to us. Sharing similar values may be important, but what makes humans unique is the multitude of small differences.

Buying a gift isn’t the best way to get that sense of togetherness. Talking to other people and feeling listened to is what helps alleviate feelings of loneliness, even if we don’t necessarily agree with them.

Finally, Waitrose, it would only count if Keira said yes to Andrew Lincoln,
wouldn’t it? Readers, now I’m open to hearing your opinions – after all, we don’t have to agree on that.

Michal Chmiel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Christmas adverts are hijacking the Love Actually feel-good spirit to get us spending more – https://theconversation.com/christmas-adverts-are-hijacking-the-love-actually-feel-good-spirit-to-get-us-spending-more-271255

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Olga Cam, Lecturer in Accounting, University of Sheffield

The holiday season brings celebration and gift-giving, but it also ushers in something less festive: financial stress. In the UK, retailers now shape much of the spending calendar, with Black Friday one of the busiest shopping events of the year.

This year on Black Friday weekend, Nationwide building society alone saw more than 31.2 million transactions, a 5.8% increase on last year. What’s more, households that usually spend around £2,460 a month (a typical amount in the UK) shell out an additional £713 (29% more) in the month of December.

This spending culture can lead to people worrying about their budget for December and January, and often pushes them towards borrowing just to take care of their household and family.

Some estimates suggest that three quarters of UK families rely on credit, including credit cards, overdrafts and buy now, pay later (BNPL) services, to manage Christmas costs. These purchases may feel harmless at the time, but they quickly add up.

The UK already has high levels of consumer borrowing. A report by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that 65% of UK adults (35.3 million people) held a credit card.

BNPL has grown especially quickly, probably because it feels effortless to use. In fact, research shows that BNPL use rose from 17% in 2022 to 27% of adults in 2023, with further increases in 2024.

For the moment, many BNPL products in the UK fall outside the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and therefore remain unregulated. But this is due to change – from July 15 2026 third-party BNPL products will be fully regulated by the FCA.

In terms of the cost to consumers of BNPL, a study from Stanford University involving 570,000 people found that BNPL users paid more overall due to higher overdraft fees, interest charges and late payment fines. These costs often become visible only after the holidays when many households realise that the supposedly cheap option was not cheap at all.

Read more:
Mobile payments used to be less ‘painful’ than using cash. That might be changing

A recent report on financial capability in the UK suggests that low levels of financial literacy play into these economic difficulties around times of increased spending. Strikingly, these gaps are not limited to a single demographic – they appear across age groups and income levels.

Financial literacy is often misunderstood. Many people assume it is simply mathematics, yet it is far more complex. True financial literacy is about behaviour and confident decision-making rather than understanding complex products.

In a social and digital environment shaped by targeted advertising, limited-time offers and frictionless credit, even financially knowledgeable people can overspend. The problem is rarely numerical skill. It is the challenge of managing behaviour and emotion at the point of purchase.

What’s going on in your brain?

Behavioural economist Richard Thaler’s concept of mental accounting helps to explain why BNPL and credit cards encourage overspending. Thaler’s theory shows that people treat money differently depending on how they categorise it. Creating a category such as holiday spending makes it easier to justify purchases that would otherwise feel unnecessary.

Another concept, payment decoupling, also helps to explain the appeal of BNPL. When buying is separated from paying, consumers feel less of the “pain” of payment. Humans naturally prefer immediate rewards over long-term consequences. BNPL strengthens this tendency by delaying the moment when the financial cost becomes real.

Understanding these psychological processes can help consumers make more confident decisions.

Financial literacy has never been a core part of the UK school curriculum. Even where it appears, it is often presented as an add-on rather than a fully developed programme. The new skills for life and work curriculum in England aims to strengthen financial capability, but it remains heavily weighted towards knowledge rather than behaviour.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), financial literacy includes knowledge, behaviour, attitudes and decision-making. Many people will recognise the tension: understanding the sensible option, yet not acting on it.

A further challenge we have found when conducting financial literacy workshops is that most teachers have never been trained to teach about money. They feel confident teaching literature or algebra, but not long-term financial planning, credit agreements, debt or interest.

In our workshops, teachers often report feeling unsure about how to discuss everyday financial risks with students. This matters for families too. Children usually learn financial behaviour from the adults around them. If both teachers and parents feel uncertain, young people receive inconsistent messages.

Our workshops also showed that young people are eager to talk about money when given the opportunity. They ask thoughtful questions that challenge assumptions that they might be uninterested in finances. They are quick to understand the emotional and psychological aspects of spending, demonstrating why financial literacy should be lived and discussed rather than memorised.

Financial literacy is not about becoming an accountant. It is about understanding why people spend the way they do and building the confidence to make decisions that support wellbeing, especially during emotionally charged or financially pressured moments.

This Christmas, the most valuable gift many people can give themselves is the space to pause before spending and the skills to avoid entering the new year in a buy-now-panic-later cycle.

Mohammad Rajjaque is affiliated with Citizen’s Advise Sheffield where he is Vice-Chair of the board of trustees. CAS is Sheffield’s largest provider of advice and advocacy services, including debt advice.

Olga Cam does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Buy now, panic later is the new holiday ritual – stopping it won’t be easy – https://theconversation.com/buy-now-panic-later-is-the-new-holiday-ritual-stopping-it-wont-be-easy-271559

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Charlotte Ireland, Associate Researcher, Department of English, University of Birmingham

The bestselling British author Sophie Kinsella “peacefully” died two days before her 56th birthday on December 10, 2025. Across more than 30 books published between 1995 and 2024, Kinsella became one of the most commercially successful writers of popular women’s fiction. Her novels were the books readers packed for holidays, lent to friends and read on commutes – stories that created a sense of connection through shared experience.

Born Madeleine Wickham, she was one of Britain’s most successful novelist. She has sold more than 50 million books in more than sixty countries. Since her death, fellow contemporary writers Jennifer Weiner and Jenny Colgan, have shared tributes celebrating her impact.

Her death comes only three months after that of Jilly Cooper, described as the queen of the bonkbuster – popular novels featuring explicit sexual encounters and wild storylines. If Cooper defined the sexy, sensational bestsellers of the late 20th century, Kinsella did the same for the early 21st-century romantic comedy novel.

Although she preferred to describe her work as romantic comedies, she is frequently situated within chick lit: satirical, confessional stories about women by women.

Controversy surrounds the term “chick lit” which has often been used pejoratively, implying that fiction about women’s lives is lightweight or disposable rather than culturally meaningful. Such dismissal rarely applied to male-authored popular fiction. The debate reveals how stories about women’s work, relationships and personal lives are routinely undervalued.

But, as fellow author Jennifer Weiner argues, being labelled “chick lit” carries advantages. The tag gives “booksellers and readers, a quick and easy shorthand with which to refer to books that feature smart, funny, struggling, relatable female protagonists.”

Alongside Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones), Candace Bushnell (Sex and the City) and Terry McMillan (Waiting to Exhale), Kinsella stands as one of the genre’s foundational voices.

What made Kinsella distinct was her focus on consumerism, finances and the stresses of modern work, shaped in part by her background as a financial journalist. In an interview with the Guardian, she described how shopping had become a national pastime, full of contradictions – the thrill of spending, the shame of debt – and “nobody has written about it”. So she did, blending the “funny and painful”.

Her most famous heroine, Becky Bloomwood, embodies this perfectly in The Secret Dreamworld Of A Shopaholic, which would be the first in the nine-book Shopaholic series and adapted for the screen as Confessions of a Shopaholic. Bloomwood insists: “They should list shopping as a cardiovascular activity.”

The line is typical of the voice that made Kinsella’s fiction so distinctive. Her writing was full of internal monologues that combine comedy with anxious, “Oh God, what now?” moments. Her heroines are flawed, panicked and often ridiculous – and it is precisely because of that, readers stayed loyal.

While some have called for the end of chick lit, the genre has continued to thrive because of authors like Kinsella. It has not disappeared, it has evolved, reflecting new social norms and including older female protagonists.

Kinsella’s novels are markedly contemporary, as she explained: “The world changes and I reflect the world. I’m writing about issues that didn’t even exist when I started writing.”

Her writing may look light, but in classrooms and scholarship alike, Kinsella’s novels demonstrate how comedy can carry sharp cultural critique. Her books have been used to teach students
about different waves of feminism, showing how humour can make social critique accessible. Her novels have also been linked with post-feminist discourse and compared to 19th century classics.

Kinsella’s stories interrogate (rather than simply embrace) the demands placed upon women. Her gift was balancing this critique with levity, allowing serious themes to coexist with warmth and wit. As she put it: “The best comedy comes out of truth. So, it can’t be just silly. It’s got to have a kind of underlying message.”

Across her fiction, she wrote not only about shopping but about the pressure to curate a perfect life, marriage, sisterhood, workplace misery and, recently, an unforgettable, semi-autobiographical novella about living with a brain tumour.

Kinsella’s final year also brought a different kind of visibility. In April 2024, she publicly shared her diagnosis of glioblastoma. She resisted the idea of a grand bucket list. She didn’t want to “swim with dolphins” or “meet a celebrity”.

Instead, she said, she wanted simply to “lead [her] life, but just make it a bit nicer,” with “a little treat here, a little treat there”. In many ways, this mirrors what her books offer readers: not grand transformations, but small joys, respites from pressure and moments of laughter.

In Shopaholic Ties the Knot (2001), Becky reflects: “We’re on this planet for too short a time … What’s more important? Knowing a few meaningless figures balanced – or knowing that you were the person you wanted to be?” It feels sharper in the wake of Kinsella’s passing. But her novels remain stories full of wit, resilience and warmth, still offering readers “a little treat here, a little treat there”.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

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Charlotte Ireland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Sophie Kinsella showed that ‘light’ fiction can speak to women’s real lives – https://theconversation.com/sophie-kinsella-showed-that-light-fiction-can-speak-to-womens-real-lives-272097