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Woman's Hour: Jung Chang; Living longer: bodies and muscles; Maternity allowance

Jung Chang; Living longer: bodies and muscles; Maternity allowance

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Jung Chang; Living longer: bodies and muscles; Maternity allowance

Jung Chang, bodies and muscles, maternity allowance, and Remembering Resistance.

Jung Chang on the Soong sisters; maternity allowance; bodies and muscles in old age; and the history of women's protest in the north of England.

Jung Chang is the best-selling author of 'Wild Swans'.  She talks about her new book 'Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister' and how the three Soong sisters helped shape 20th century China. Maternity Action, a charity that campaigns for the rights of women and babies, says it’s receiving an increasing number of calls to its helpline about Maternity Allowance. New mothers are telling them that they’ve started their maternity leave and given birth, but still haven't received the £148 a week benefit. We hear from their Chief Executive Rosalind Bragg. Just two per cent of women do the recommended 150 minutes of exercise each week. This is a problem because older women that exercise have better immune function and are less likely to suffer falls which are a major cause of poor health and injury for older people. In the second part of our series on health in old age we talk to Professor Janet Lord, an expert in muscle health and immunity from the University of Birmingham and Ann Kirby, an 82 year old writer who is passionate about keeping fit. A new exhibition ‘Empowering Women, Empower Women’ at the Millennium Gallery, Museums Sheffield tells the story of women across the North of England who have fought for change over the last 100 years – from Women Against Pit Closures to the Leeds Clothing strike. Its curator Dr Sarah Marsden is joined by former activists Kate Flannery and Nancy Hall to discuss the tradition of women's protest.

Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Ruth Watts

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