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Slow Food Birmingham, a collective which champions local producers and businesses, has just submitted plans to transform the top of a city car park into an urban farm. Proposals for the first phase of the project include constructing glass houses, a community garden, an education hub and a café. In the second phase, Slow Food Birmingham aims to also transform the top floors of the car park to include community kitchens. The collective hopes that the farm will champion hyper-local food production and spark important conversations around our food system.

🚸 Childcare crunch

New data has shown that some parents face spending as much as 80% of their take home pay on childcare, while others are struggling to find a provider due to insufficient spaces in large parts of the country.

Wait, 80% of their pay?
Yes, according to Nesta. The social good think tank’s figures show that a single parent earning the London living wage now has to spend about 80% of their post-tax income on childcare - though that figure does not include the impact of benefit payments. The study also shows for the first time how affordability varies across England, with parents in London and Manchester particularly penalised.

What else do we know?
A separate study by the children’s charity Coram has found that only half of England’s local authorities say that they have sufficient childcare places to meet the demands of parents working full-time. The research also suggests that it is the most disadvantaged children who are at risk of missing out, as only 18% of local authorities that answered the survey reported sufficient childcare for children with disabilities.

What’s being done to address this?
Ministers believe that the problem is contributing to millions of people staying at home rather than entering or reentering the workforce, and the Treasury is understood to now be working on plans to address the crisis in this month’s budget.

A government spokesperson has also said that the number of childcare places available to families in England have remained “broadly stable” since 2015. But according to Labour, who will today pledge an overhaul of the current childcare system if elected, there has been a 19% decline in the number of providers since 2017.

📺 Subtitles on

Researchers have identified a new and unexpected generational divide: young people are more likely than older adults to turn on subtitles when watching TV.

You’re saying young people use subtitles more?
Yes! YouGov polled 3,609 UK adults on whether they prefer to have closed captions on or off when watching TV shows and films in their native language. More than 60% of 16 to 24-year olds said they use them, compared to just 22% of those aged 65+. News that the viewers who are least likely to be hard of hearing are opting for subtitles the most has sparked surprise.

What could explain the difference?
Younger viewers may be watching more modern productions which, according to dialogue editor Austin Olivia Kendrick, can often be “difficult to hear”. In early Hollywood films, actors tended to speak clearly into large static microphones and deliver their lines in a tone and accent designed to maximise clarity. In more recent years, the use of lapel mics and a shift towards a more “natural” style of acting has meant that shows typically feature more background noise - and actors sometimes face allegations of mumbling.

The way that we watch films these days has also played a part in this. While complex and dense audio creates atmosphere in the cinema, it doesn’t always sound good when coming through the speakers on our TVs, laptops or smartphones.

But is it just about audio quality?
Probably not. Subtitling specialists say the generational divide could also be due to the vast amount of text information young people are used to absorbing as a result of social media. This could be why older generations generally find subtitles to be more of a distraction than their youthful counterparts.

Are subtitles a source of debate in your home - and what’s your preference? Hit reply to let us know!

❄️ Cold snap: The Met Office says it’s likely that 10-20cm of snow will fall across much of the UK today - even reaching up to 40cm in an area stretching from Durham to Stoke-on-Trent.

🇺🇦 Ukraine attack: Russia has launched missiles at targets across Ukraine - the first attack of its kind on such a scale for three weeks. The airstrikes on cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv and the Black Sea port of Odesa have led to widespread power cuts.

📣 Row of the day: Gary Lineker has said he will try to keep speaking up for people with “no voice” after the BBC reprimanded him for a tweet saying that the government’s asylum plan was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.

🚧 Pothole pains: Bristol is the worst place for potholes in England, with nearly four out of every five roads requiring maintenance, according to a new analysis of local authority data. Where do you reckon the best roads in the country are located?

💛 Hello, yellow: Apple has unveiled a new yellow iPhone 14 - media platform Mashable says it’s like “sunshine in your hand”.

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Trivia answer: B) - Asda’s Corale Baked Beans didn’t just beat Heinz (which was ranked joint eighth) on taste, but were also found to be a great value option, costing 50% less per tin than the iconic beans brand.

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