By Emma Young. Exploiting the “maybe favour” effect could have big implications for society.

From boomers to zoomers, the concept gets social history all wrong.

Is the desire to possess or vend luxury items out of step in today’s world?

After the traumas of widespread economic shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, America’s restaurant industry is largely open for business again as eateries ranging from high-end bistros to fast-food chains are serving hungry customers.

Being able to relax, spend time with loved ones, have freedom from a boss, and do whatever the hell we want are essential parts of what it means to be human. Workers need more time off.

People struggling to motivate themselves to engage in activities that are good for them should tap into their imagination to visualise themselves carrying out the activity, according to new research.

What does a good life look like to you? For some, the phrase may conjure up images of a close-knit family, a steady job, and a Victorian house at the end of a street arched with oak trees. Others may focus on the goal of making a difference in the world, whether by working as a nurse or teacher, volunteering, or pouring their energy into environmental activism.

When the pandemic freed employees from having to report to the office, some saw an opportunity to double their salary on the sly. Why be good at one job, they thought, when they could be mediocre at two?

In Florida, someone working full-time would need to make $24.82 an hour to afford a two-bedroom rental. In Colorado, you’d need to make $27.50 an hour. In Washington state you’d need to make $29.31 working full-time. The wage thresholds for a two-bedroom rental in New York and Washington, D.C., are even higher: $34.03 and 33.94, respectively.

When the pandemic began, Melissa Villareal was teaching history to middle schoolers at a private school in a wealthy California neighborhood. It was a job and a field she loved. Now, just over a year later, she’s left teaching entirely, to work in industrial design at a large beauty company.

Reagan’s firing of striking air traffic controllers was the first huge offensive in corporate America’s war on everyone else.

Customers are choosing plant-based meat for the environment and for their health. Would a meat tax help scale the industry even further?

Inflation is one of those concepts that everyone knows about but very few understand (unless you have the misfortune of living in a high inflation environment). In the western world we have been fortunate that we have not had to deal with runaway inflation in decades. So, what is the big deal?

Some good news if you’re an office worker who can’t stand your boss, commuting, or both: Your odds of returning to the office in the coming weeks are falling. Labor Day was supposed to be the big switch back to in-person work after 17 months of Zoom. Now, with the Delta variant surging across the country, many of America’s biggest corporations are pushing back their returns dates again—in some cases indefinitely.

For many Americans, buying fresh local food at one of the estimated 9,000 farmers markets across the U.S. is one of summer’s pleasures. But farmers markets aren’t just nice amenities. Over the past 18 months, many have filled food supply gaps caused by COVID-19 shutdowns.

Nothing gives you better clarity than a near-death experience. It awakens you to the frailty of life and the importance of living with purpose and meaning. The pandemic has been a wake-up call. It has shaken us out of our complacency. We have started seriously looking into the way we lead our lives. Many of us have decided that our jobs were dead ends, and quit in the “Great Resignation” wave.

When Matt Elliott started his career, you were expected to be at your desk from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. “I feel that’s being broken now,” he said. As Bank of Ireland’s chief people officer , he is encouraging staff to think about how they use the office when they finally reopen, not to come in for tasks they could do at home and save themselves a commute into the bargain.

All her life, Carole-Ann Warburton kept a little hope glowing at the back of her mind. “You’re living your life. And every now and then you think: ‘I have a dream.’” Warburton’s dream was to work in a bookshop.

Lazy, financially irresponsible, never happy ... stereotypes of Millennials are tough. But for young people, the real generation to blame is the Baby Boomers, due to their negative impact on today's economy.

We’re living longer, but not necessarily better. As the population over 65 in the United States is projected to double by 2060 — with one in five residents in retirement age — so will the number of Americans needing long-term care services.