Washington's Working Women

The lingering impacts of recession highlight the central importance of women's work to family economic survival - but also the gulf that still separates women's earnings from men's, and the need for new policies that promote healthy workplaces and healthy families

10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class for Hard Working Americans: Making Work Pay in the 21st Century

10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class for Hard Working Americans: Making Work Pay in the 21st Century, is a road map to restore the promise of the American dream, that if you work hard and play by the rules, you will be able to provide a good life for your family and a better life for your children. The steps proposed in this report are based on a simple idea: the great American middle class, the engine of the economy, is not built by accident -- we build a broad middle class by decisions we make together

Sickness certification system in the United Kingdom: qualitative study of views of general practitioners in Scotland

Objectives: To explore how general practitioners operate the sickness certification system, their views on the system, and suggestions for change. Design: Qualitative focus group study consisting of 11 focus groups with 67 participants. Setting: General practitioners in practices in Glasgow, Tayside, and Highland regions, Scotland. Sample: Purposive sample of general practitioners, with further theoretical sampling of key informant general practitioners to examine emerging themes. Results: General practitioners believed that the sickness certification system failed to address complex, chronic, or doubtful cases. They seemed to develop various operational strategies for its implementation. There appeared to be important deliberate misuse of the system by general practitioners, possibly related to conflicts about roles and incongruities in the system. The doctor-patient relationship was perceived to conflict with the current role of general practitioners in sickness certification. When making decisions about certification, the general practitioners considered a wide variety of factors. They experienced contradictory demands from other system stakeholders and felt blamed for failing to make impossible reconciliations. They clearly identified the difficulties of operating the system when there was no continuity of patient care. Many wished either to relinquish their gatekeeper role or to continue only with major changes. Conclusions: Policy makers need to recognise and accommodate the range and complexity of factors that influence the behaviour of general practitioners operating as gatekeepers to the sickness certification system, before making changes. Such changes are otherwise unlikely to result in improvement. Models other than the primary care gatekeeper model should be considered

Barnes Hospital Record

https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/bjc_barnes_record/1172/thumbnail.jp

Half in Ten: Why Taking Disability into Account is Essential to Reducing Income Poverty and Expanding Economic Inclusion

Disability is both a fundamental cause and consequence of income poverty. The income-poverty rate for persons with disabilities is between two to three times the rate for persons without disabilities. Yet, contemporary policy debate and research about income poverty in the United States is largely silent about disability. This paper argues that we need to have a broader view of what poverty is and also that disability must be taken into account in anti-poverty policy

Healthy Workers, Healthy Businesses: A Small Business Analysis of Earned Paid Sick Time in New York City

This report examines small business considerations in relation to New York City's earned paid sick time proposal. It combines data from a review of existing research on the costs and benefits of a paid sick leave policy with statements from local small business owners sharing their experiences and views on earned paid sick time

Updating the Social Contract

Ohioans are struggling through economic slumps and recoveries with less help than in the past, according to this report. The safety net that used to ensure basic needs were met is in tatters, and needs to be updated for today's challenges. This study is based on surveys of 150 non-profit groups that serve more than 100,000 Ohio families, and of 2,000 northeast Ohioans who have needed help affording food, clothing, day care and other essentials during the recent recession. It also analyzes public policy decisions that have affected modest-income families

Wages, Health Benefits, and Workers' Health

Examines the divide in the U.S. labor market between higher wage earners with health insurance, and lower wage earners who often lack coverage and access to essential health care

Healthy Workers, Healthy Businesses: A Small Business Analysis of Earned Paid Sick Time in New York City

[Excerpt] Earned paid sick time is an issue that affects a significant proportion of workers and employers in New York City, including small business owners and their employees. According to a 2011 survey, fully half of working New Yorkers do not have access to any earned paid sick time. An estimated 41 percent – between 1.4 and 1.6 million workers in New York – do not have access to any paid time off at all, whether for illness, vacation, or other uses. Lack of access to earned paid sick time disproportionately impacts small businesses and their employees in low-income, Latino, and immigrant neighborhoods, including neighborhoods such as Bushwick, Brooklyn, Jackson Heights and Corona, Queens and Port Richmond, Staten Island. According to a recent survey conducted by the Community Service Society of New York, about two-thirds (64 percent) of low-income workers in New York did not have access to any earned paid sick time in 2011. More than three quarters (76 percent) of low-income Latino workers had no earned paid sick time coverage (compared to 61 percent of low-income white workers). And more than two thirds (70 percent) of low-income immigrant workers had no earned paid sick time coverage (compared to 61 percent of U.S.-born workers)

Food Insecurity of Restaurant Workers

This report is the first of its kind, presenting findings on the role that employment conditions have in affecting workers' food security in the restaurant industry -- the segment of the food system that employs the greatest number of workers. This report also provides recommendations for policymakers, employers, and consumers to improve the food security of restaurant workers. It is based on surveys of 286 restaurants workers in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area during 2011-2014