Sep 04 Why it’s not a beautiful day in the neighborhood By Christian Smith, Hilary Davidson Giving -- not just money -- but time and talent, too, is good for us. And yet, three-quarters of Americans don't volunteer. That's what Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson call "The Paradox of Generosity." In the second post adapted from… Continue reading
Sep 03 Are Americans a stingy lot of people? By Christian Smith, Hilary Davidson Given the popularity of the Ice Bucket Challenge this summer, you might think Americans are a fairly generous group. Indeed, more than $100 million has been raised for the ALS Association. But although we enjoy, and benefit from, giving money… Continue reading
Sep 03 Why so many college grads are highly-educated, well placed, and going nowhere By Kirk Carapezza, Mallory Noe-Payne, WGBH Three years ago, sociologists Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa found that college students learn little while in school. Their book, Academically Adrift, shocked the academy and provoked angry responses. Now, the two provocateurs are back. Their sequel is called Aspiring… Continue reading
Sep 02 How one family can collect 8 different Social Security benefits By Laurence Kotlikoff Social Security expert Larry Kotlikoff explains how a husband, wife and son could boost their $1 million lifetime Social Security benefits with a different collection strategy that adds one more benefit to the mix. Continue reading
Sep 01 Watch U.S. optimism lags behind economic gains, study finds By PBS News Hour For many months now, the number of new jobs created has risen and the jobless rate has fallen substantially. But despite what appears to be a slow and steady recovery, a new study finds that 71 percent of Americans believe… Continue watching
Sep 01 Watch More part-time workers suffer instability, long hours to make ends meet By PBS News Hour As employers seek more control over labor costs, the number of part-time jobs has soared in the post-great recession period. But increasingly erratic work schedules -- an attempt to squeeze maximum efficiency from every part-timer -- has taken a toll… Continue watching
Sep 01 The high cost of labor efficiency — and the ‘Good Jobs’ alternative By Zeynep Ton What do Costco, Trader Joe's, QuickTrip and Spanish supermarket Mercadona have in common? They treat labor as assets, says Zeynep Ton, author of "The Good Jobs Strategy," and therefore, avoid even bigger costs than labor. Continue reading
Sep 01 Obama delivers Labor Day pep talk, renews push for raising minimum wage By Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Boosted by recent economic gains, President Barack Obama is sounding more bullish about the nation's recovery from the Great Recession and the White House is encouraging Democrats to show similar optimism as they head into the November mid-term… Continue reading
Sep 01 The Labor Day lessons of Market Basket By Christopher Mackin On Labor Day, worker ownership adviser Christopher Mackin reflects on the unprecedented solidarity between Market Basket workers, managers and customers and looks forward to where the company is headed after the reinstatement of beloved CEO Arthur T. Demoulas. Continue reading
Aug 29 Why the backlash against adjuncts is an indictment of the tenure system By Denise Cummins Psychologist Denise Cummins, who has held faculty and research positions at Yale and the University of Illinois, draws upon her own career to argue that tenure is a meaningless distinction between the accomplishments of adjuncts and full-time professors. Continue reading