Rhetoric vs. Reality: Paid Family and Medical Leave - Proposed Business Tax Credits and Pregnancy 401(K)s Fall Short for Working Families

Access to comprehensive paid family and medical leave strengthens all American families because everyone potentially needs to take off from work at some point to recover from an illness, care for a family member, or welcome a new child. But the United States is the world's only advanced economy that does not guarantee some form of paid leave for workers. The result is that only 12 percent of private-sector workers in the United States have paid family and medical leave. In most American families, all the parents in the home are employed, meaning there is no full-time stay-at-home caregiver, and the majority of American families rely on a female breadwinner or co-breadwinner. Paid family and medical leave policies are already working across the United States, as cities, states, and individual employers embrace them. But without a national solution, millions of workers and their families are left out.Paid family and medical leave is critical for the economic security of working families, and any viable proposal needs to be sufficiently robust to address the needs of working families. Unfortunately, some current proposals—such as business tax credits to incentivize paid leave and 401(k)-type accounts for families to save for their own parental leave—claim that they would help working families but do little to expand access to paid leave. Tax credits for businesses—including those proposed by the Strong Families Act, which was introduced by Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Angus King (I-ME)—are a common conservative alternative to comprehensive paid family and medical leave. These proposals, however, would be voluntary and fail to guarantee any additional access to paid leave for working families. Moreover, past experiences with business tax credits have shown that they are unlikely to significantly compel employers to change their policies.Under another conservative alternative, workers would save up to fund their own paid family and medical leave for qualifying events, such as the birth of a child or a family illness, through "Personal Care Accounts." Workers could personally save up to the equivalent of 12 weeks of paid leave tax-free with contributions capped at $5,000 per year. Also known as a pregnancy 401(k), this proposal falls far short of what working families need. Workers who are able to save significantly are usually higher-wage earners—many of whom already have access to paid leave. In addition, since parents generally have their first child early in their working lives when they are earning the least—the average age at which a woman has her first child is 26—many families would have little opportunity to contribute meaningfully to a plan before needing to draw on it.In 2014, the Center for American Progress and the National Partnership for Women & Families outlined the key features necessary in a national family and medical leave program. A comprehensive paid family and medical leave program must be available to all workers; cover serious family and medical needs; be affordable and cost effective; be inclusive of diverse families; and be accessible to workers without adverse employment consequences. Two potential options, including a social insurance model and a business-government partnership, would fit the criteria laid out by CAP and the National Partnership and expand paid family and medical leave broadly to ensure that every working family has a fair shot at economic prosperity. A legislative vehicle for the social insurance model can be found in the Family and Medical Insurance Leave, or FAMILY, Act—introduced by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), along with 150 co-sponsors.In order to parse which proposals would best suit the needs of working families and the U.S. economy at large, as well as to dispel misconceptions about paid family and medical leave, this issue brief examines the most frequent myths about paid family and medical leave

Geochronology and evolution of the Magondi Belt

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geology. Johannesburg 2017.The Magondi Belt is a NE-trending Palaeoproterozoic mobile belt, composed of a succession of supracrustal metasediments and minor metavolcanics that is subdivided into the Deweras, Lomagundi and Piriwiri Groups. The Magondi Belt is located in north-west Zimbabwe and is bounded on its eastern flank by the Archaean Zimbabwe Craton and the Pan-African Zambezi Belt to the north. A connection between the Superior and Zimbabwe cratons has previously been made based on similarly aged dyke swarms across the two cratons. This matching magmatic barcode implies that the Superior and Zimbabwe cratons rifted away from one another circa 2.26 Ga based on the ages obtained for the Deweras lavas and the Chimbadzi Hill mafic intrusion. It was into this continental rift margin that the Magondi Supergroup sediments were deposited. The majority of the detrital and xenocrystic zircon ages from the Deweras Group are Archaean (2.86 to 2.63 Ga, with some inherited grains as old as 3.34 Ga); although a maximum depositional age of circa 2.29 Ga for the Deweras Group sedimentary rocks has been determined. Unconformably overlying these sediments, within an environment gradually transitioning from a passive margin into a back-arc basin environment, is the Lomagundi Group. These shallow marine sediments are then followed by those of the Piriwiri Group, deposited within a deeper water environment. Deposition of these two groups is constrained between 2.20 and 2.16 Ga, but may have continued up until the termination of the Magondi orogeny circa 1.99 Ga. According to the currently accepted model, the Magondi orogeny is the result of the Zimbabwe Craton colliding with an unknown continental mass, “Terra Incognita”, resulting in the formation of a Palaeoproterozoic Andean-type magmatic arc along the western margin of the Zimbabwe Craton (the arc is typified by the 2.06 - 2.02 Ga granites and gneisses of the Dete-Kamativi Inlier), which was subsequently thrust over the margin of the Zimbabwe Craton, the consequence of which was a Himalayan-style collision that resulted in high-grade metamorphism and the formation of collisional granitoids (e.g. the Hurungwe Granite) circa 1.99 Ga ago. It has also been established that the Dete-Kamativi Inlier, which flanks the western margin of the Zimbabwe Craton, is an extension of the Magondi Belt. Detrital zircons from paragneisses of the Malaputese Formation have ages ranging from 2.8 to 2.5 Ga, with the youngest grains constraining the maximum depositional age to be around 2.3 Ga. Thus, in terms of age and lithology, the correlation of the Malaputese Formation with the Deweras Group (maximum age of 2.29 Ga) is permissible. A south westward extension of 2.06 - 2.02 Ga granitoids – emplaced during the Magondi orogeny – is indicated by a number of localities in north-eastern Botswana and is believed to also be related to the Palaeoproterozoic magmatic arc. This study has recorded the first evidence of Archaean-aged basement within the Dete-Kamativi Inlier. Two orthogneisses with ages of 2.76 and 2.69 Ga provide strong evidence to suggest that the western margin of the Zimbabwe Craton may extend further to the west than previously recognised. It has also been confirmed, based on the recurrence of ~2.64 Ga aged zircons, in addition to older inherited grains ranging from 3.34 to 2.72 Ga, that the crust below the Magondi Belt is Archaean in age. This is not so, however, for the high-grade gneisses in the northern reaches of the Magondi Belt. It has been previously suggested that these supposed basement granites and gneisses represent an Archaean orogeny, but they are in fact Palaeoproterozoic in age, as represented by the syn-to-post-tectonic 2.02 Ga Hurungwe orthogneiss and the 1.95 Ga Kariba Granite. Additionally, a second, 1.96 Ga, orthogneiss contains zircons with younger metamorphic overgrowth rims that are Pan-African in age (545 Ma) and are attributed to the collision between the Kalahari and Congo cratons in the Neoproterozoic. It is therefore apparent that there is not enough evidence to support the existence of an Archaean “Hurungwe orogeny”. The Magondi orogeny was the heat source for a widespread mineralisation and metamorphic event between 2.15 and 2.03 Ga, based on titanite and apatite ages from samples of the Archaean Copper King and Copper Queen Domes within the Magondi Belt. There is also evidence of a second, younger, mineralisation event, which primarily affected both the Dete-Kamativi Inlier and the Choma-Kalomo Block (south east Zambia). U-Pb data on columbite-tantalite grains (corroborated by 40Ar-39Ar dating of mica separates) from tin-bearing pegmatites within both the Choma-Kalomo Block and the Dete-Kamativi Inlier indicates that mineralisation occurred simultaneously within these two terranes between 1.06 and 0.98 Ga. The similarities (particularly with regards to mineralisation), between the Choma-Kalomo Block and the Dete-Kamativi Inlier imply that these two terranes had a shared history, potentially as far back as the Palaeoproterozoic, but were certainly juxtaposed by 1.06 Ga when the pegmatites were emplaced. The previously undated metasediments of the Choma-Kalomo Block have revealed an abundant Palaeoproterozoic component (2.04 - 1.86 Ga), contradicting the prevailing understanding that the Choma-Kalomo Block is solely Mesoproterozoic in age (on account of the granitoids, which were previously dated at 1.37 and 1.18 Ga). The Choma-Kalomo Block was also thought to constitute an exotic terrane with respect to the neighbouring Dete-Kamativi Inlier and Archaean Zimbabwe Craton. Based on the geochronology presented here, a new model is proposed whereby the thinner lithosphere beneath the Choma-Kalomo Block is either a primary feature or one that resulted from subduction erosion and delamination processes associated with the formation of multiple continental margin magmatic arcs.MT 201

Isolation, characterisation and experimental evolution of phage that infect the horse chestnut tree pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. aesculi

Bleeding canker of horse chestnut trees is a bacterial disease, caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. aesculi, estimated to be present in ~ 50% of UK horse chestnut trees. Currently, the disease has no cure and tree removal can be a common method of reducing inoculum and preventing spread. One potential method of control could be achieved using naturally occurring bacteriophages infective to the causative bacterium. Bacteriophages were isolated from symptomatic and asymptomatic horse chestnut trees in three locations in the South East of England. The phages were found to be belonging to both the Myoviridae and Podoviridae families by RAPD PCR and transmission electron microscopy. Experimental coevolution was carried out to understand the dynamics of bacterial resistance and phage infection and to determine whether new infective phage genotypes would emerge. The phages exhibited different coevolution patterns with their bacterial hosts across time. This approach could be used to generate novel phages for use in biocontrol cocktails in an effort to reduce the potential emergence of bacterial resistance

From Practitioner to Researcher: A Threshold Concept – A personal reflection on my own 'tug of war'

A threshold concept can be considered as a gateway, opening up a new way of thinking about something. In this paper, I share my personal journey and reflections as I embark upon a professional doctorate programme. I share my changing ontological and epistemological views as I undertake a paradigm shift moving from clinician to researcher. As a consequence of understanding a threshold concept, I will share my transformed worldview and the impact of this upon my doctoral studies

Marxism and Multiculturalism.

Most current debate on multiculturalism revolves around fundamental conflicts within liberalism. The liberal hegemony has meant that the intense and detailed debates that accompanied the evolution of Marxist social democracy have been relegated to the historical margins. There is an irony here as multicultural theory itself originally grew out of developments within Marxism – developments that began as criticisms of emphasis but ended up rejecting fundamental Marxist principles. The Marxist debate starts from a very different perspective. Its focus is not the individual, but society as a whole. The contention of this paper is that a reexamination of these debates and of their historical interpretations can throw a new light on issues today. An evolutionary history of the ideas will be accompanied by an examination of how they were enacted in a geographical context that is continuing to make multicultural history: London’s East End

Playing the Ethnic Card - politics and ghettoisation in London’s East End

Ghettoisation is a politically charged subject, and politicians are often accused of encouraging racism and ghettoisation by ‘playing the race card’. But it is not just political parties that may be found to be promoting ethnic separation. There are strong drives towards separate organisation within different ethnic communities, and organisational separation can easily manifest itself as physical separation; indeed sometimes that is an important aim. This paper explores the role of political forces on the evolution and development of ghettoisation through the example of one of the most ghettoised immigrant communities in Britain, the Bengali Muslims in Tower Hamlets, whose families largely immigrated from Sylhet in what is now Bangladesh

Home Truths: the myth and reality of regeneration in Dundee.

This paper presents a case study of processes that are changing the physical and social fabric of Dundee, concentrating on the proposed demolition of the multi-story flats that, for over thirty years, have dominated the city’s skyline. It begins with an overview of current developments in housing regeneration and governance before moving on to the specific example of Dundee. The empirical material falls into two parts. The first consists of a critical analysis of the council’s housing plans, looking at the arguments given for the proposals (making use of material obtained under the Freedom of Information Act as well as documents more readily available), and also at the consultation process. The second part looks at the reactions and experiences of the tenants of the buildings, drawing on protracted participant action research with housing activists and tenants. This case study tests some of the recent theories about the nature of regeneration under New Labour, and draws disturbing conclusions about the use of resources, the failures of local democracy and the impact of current policies on those with the least economic and political leverage

The Spirit of ’71: how the Bangladeshi War of Independence has haunted Tower Hamlets.

In 1971 Bengalis in Britain rallied en masse in support of the independence struggle that created Bangladesh. This study explores the nature and impact of that movement, and its continuing legacy for Bengalis in Britain, especially in Tower Hamlets where so many of them live. It looks at the different backgrounds and politics of those who took part, how the war brought them together and politicised new layers, and how the dictates of ‘popular frontism’ and revolutionary ‘stages theory’ allowed the radical socialism of the intellectual leadership to become subsumed by nationalism. And it examines how the mobilisation in 1971 played its part in the formation of Bengali links with the Labour Party and the development of a pragmatic town hall politics; and how its shadow still falls on the community today. This history, which has largely been put together here from interviews with those who took part, has previously been little recorded outside a few personal memoirs in Bengali, and is a powerful story in its own right. It also provides a detailed example of the impact of international socialist developments on the evolution of politics among immigrants in a key period that saw decolonisation and nation-forming in their place of origin, and settlement and consolidation in Britain

From Practitioner to Researcher: A Threshold Concept – A personal reflection on my own 'tug of war'

A threshold concept can be considered as a gateway, opening up a new way of thinking about something. In this paper, I share my personal journey and reflections as I embark upon a professional doctorate programme. I share my changing ontological and epistemological views as I undertake a paradigm shift moving from clinician to researcher. As a consequence of understanding a threshold concept, I will share my transformed worldview and the impact of this upon my doctoral studies