Society Daily: 25.08.10

Follow Society Guardian on Twitter Follow Patrick Butler on Twitter Sign up to Society Daily email briefing Poor families bear brunt of coalition's austerity drive Young at risk as sexually transmitted infections reach record levels In today's Society supplement Mary O'Hara meets Rachel Perkins, outspoken psychologist and champion for mentally ill people wants professionals reined in and backs the tapering of benefits The UK Drugs Commission's investigation into the stigmatisation of drug users . There needs to be an attempt to inform the public about the nature of addiction, says Charlie Lloyd Peter Hetherington on how this government is demolishing the housing industry Faisel Rahman on the growth of payday lending Erwin James on the Koestler Trust's exhibition of art by offenders at the Edinburgh Festival What are the links between shame and poverty? An international study aims to find out The homeless tour guides giving visitors to the capital an alternative view of London's landmarks All today's society stories Other stories • John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, is being urged by unions to stop ministers from rushing through legislation that will slash redundancy terms for civil servants and clear the way for a cull of up to 100,000 jobs reports the Financial Times. • A £39m drive to improve social work recruitment and retention has made no difference with UK vacancy rates still above 10%, an investigation by Community Care has found. Events Driving efficiencies in public sector ICT , 30 September, London: a one-day conference for senior IT professionals to re-examine the way they work, cut costs and deliver vital efficiency savings. Public sector online , 4 October, London: a one-day conference examining how public sector professionals can engage with their audience to deliver services more effectively and strategically online. Society Guardian blogs Joe Public Sarah Boseley's global health blog Guardian awards Guardian Public Services awards 2010 Guardian charity awards 2010 Society Daily blog Society Daily blog editor: Patrick Butler Email the editor: [email protected] Society Guardian Links SocietyGuardian.co.uk Public - the Guardian's website for senior public sector executives The Guardian's public and voluntary sector careers page Hundreds of public and voluntary sector jobs Society Guardian editor: Alison Benjamin Email the SocietyGuardian editor: [email protected]