Amazon and Apple cash in

Get straight to the good stuff every day with the Multiply Minute; a lightning-quick round-up of the money news and how it affects you.

Big tech cashes in

Amazon, Facebook, and Apple have defied trends and seen their revenues soar during lockdown. Our socially distanced lives have pushed more activity online, which is good news for the tech giants. Amazon enjoyed a 40% jump in sales between April and June and Facebook gained 15% more users across Instagram and WhatsApp.

Full pay for redundancy packages

Anyone who is made redundant after being on furlough will get redundancy pay based on their full salary, not on the 80% furlough wage. The government passed the new law yesterday to stop sneaky employers from short changing laid-off workers.

Adviser comment: "Any additional money for those losing their jobs in these difficult times can make a huge difference. If you're being made redundant and you don't have emergency savings in place, your first step should be to take a look at your budget and see if you can cut back."

Working mothers worse off

Mothers are the most likely to be working shorter hours on reduced pay since the start of lockdown. Research from UCL found that mothers in their 30s have cut their hours by 52%*, more than any other group. Why? A lack of childcare is a big reason, with nursery and summer school places hard to come by.

Argos catalogue’s last Christmas

Argos will retire its catalogue in January, marking the end of a distinguished 48 year career, after admitting that online shopping offers "greater convenience". At its peak the iconic catalogue was the most widely printed publication in Europe, with a copy in almost every home - only the Bible was more prolific.