Additional Reading Material to Unit 1

Read the text about the survey of a typical British family held by Epson, a famous digital company, together with psychologist Dr Chris Steele in 2003. Tick statements that correspond to the contents of the text.

1. The material well-being of a typical British family has become better than it was last year.

2. The lifestyle of a typical British family is rather healthy.

3. A typical family has more than three children.

4. A typical British family can’t afford (не может позволить) an annual holiday.

5. All British families are very much alike.

6. British families are different and fall into five main categories.

Epson Family Report

According to Independent research commissioned by Epson in conjunction with leading psychologist, Dr Chris Steele, the typical British family now consists of 1.6 children, has a family income of £24,793 per annum and an annual spend of £1,875 on family holidays.

Key facts from the Epson Family report include:

Family

The typical family has 1.6 kids. The most popular boy's name is Jack. The most popular girl's name is Chloe. There are 286,100 marriages each year and 160,000 divorces.

Home

The typical house is valued at £161,665 in comparison to £91,000 in 2002. Nearly half of the population spends over 10 weeks watching TV each year. 1% of the population watches more than 13 hours of TV a day. 41% of the population gets less than 6 hours sleep a night. 3% of the population spend over an hour in the bathroom each day. 27% of people have never eaten a takeaway. 1% of the population eats a takeaway every day.

Money

Only 5% of the population feel underpaid and overworked. The typical family income is £24,793 per annum. A typical family annual holiday costs £1,875. The typical individual spends £23.86 on clothes every month. 4% of the population shop twice a day. 15% of the population shop at least once a day.

Career

1% of the population is defined as workaholic (working more than 61 hours a week). London / South East has the highest percentage of people working over 41 hours a week (at 33%, this is more than double any other region within the UK). People aged between 35-54 work the longest hours. 28% of adults do not work at all.

The Epson Family Report concludes that 'typical' families fall into one of five categories: The Techies, The Easys, The Fit and Fun Lovers, The Selfers and The Good Intenders.

“The Techies”

The children in such families have mobiles phones, and consider text messaging a way of life. Their parents have satellite navigation in-car systems, with internet access and digital cameras being family necessities.

“The Easys”

The Easys spend most of their leisure time in front of the television. They work hard and as a result prefer takeaways for convenience and like to combine it with having a drink. 75% of this category regularly drink more than 30 units a week.

“The Fit and Fun Lovers”

The Fit and Fun Lovers exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet. They avoid lifts, takeaways and alcohol and never enjoy a lie in.

“The Selfers”

The Selfers are wrapped up in their own lives. Appearance is everything, whether it's designer labels, expensive cars or products. Fresh food is what they want to eat, not because it tastes better but because it makes them look better and of course it's expensive. They buy expensive, good looking gadgets that reflect well on the family, especially when they are on one of their two annual holidays.

“The Good Intenders”

The Good Intenders have more children than any other group. They have opted for a non-urban life, with organic food. They are under constant pressure from their children to adopt a more trendy, city life. They know that one day they will loose their children to the city, but also hope that they will make the choice to return one day.

Notes:

family income - доход семьи

per annum – лат. ежегодно, в год