Covid trends, face mask use, and the universal credit cut
More or Less
BBC
4.6 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 22 September 2021
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A coronavirus check-in, our daily mask use measured, and a minister's claim on the universal credit cut questioned.
There was a time when the latest Covid statistics were headline news daily, but as the pandemic has stretched on into its second year and third wave people don't pay as much attention. But on More or Less we still keep an eye on them because that’s how we roll.
A recent article estimated that 129 billion single-use face masks are used every day around the world. It sounds wrong, but how wrong is it? And how did it get so wrong?
Making up the shortfall from the £20 weekly cut in the universal credit benefit means working an extra two hours a week - or an extra nine, depending on who you listen to. We run the numbers.
Plus, has the number of periods women have in a lifetime increased fourfold? And how many holes does a drinking straw have?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:04.2 | Hello and welcome to More or Less, |
| 0:06.4 | the show that unmasks statistical untruths |
| 0:09.4 | before disposing of them in a hygienic and sustainable way. |
| 0:13.4 | This week, how did the BBC manage to claim effectively |
| 0:17.4 | that everyone in the world is using a fresh, disposable face mask every waking hour? |
| 0:23.2 | A government minister makes some questionable claims about cuts to universal credit. |
| 0:28.2 | We try to count the number of periods a woman has in her lifetime |
| 0:32.0 | and look at how that number has radically changed. |
| 0:35.2 | Most difficult of all, we try to enumerate the holes in a drinking straw. |
| 0:41.2 | But first, there was a time when the latest COVID statistics were headline news daily. |
| 0:47.8 | But as the pandemic has stretched on into its second year and third wave, |
| 0:52.2 | people don't pay as much attention. |
| 0:54.6 | But on More or Less, we still keep an eye on those numbers, |
| 0:58.2 | because let's face it, that's how we roll. |
| 1:01.2 | At this point, I'd normally bring on Kate Lambel |
| 1:04.2 | to talk us through some gloomy stats, |
| 1:06.2 | but she told me that the news actually seemed quite good, |
| 1:09.0 | so she just wasn't interested. |
| 1:11.0 | Fair enough. |
| 1:12.0 | So it falls to me to be the bearer of good news. |
| 1:16.0 | Let's start with England. |
... |
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