Philobiblon

The Observer has returned to a deprived area of Liverpool to visit an iconic 1993 photo of poverty, finding the girls pictured in it. Physical conditions have improved – at least a little – but the height of aspiration has hardly changed – hairdresser is the job to which most girls aspire, an alternative being a care assistant in a nursing home. How to push that up at least to nurse, if not doctor?

And then there’s environments – particularly in poor areas – that help to make you fat, thus cutting lifespan and greatly increasing morbidity.