Recent pieces give a glimpse of working an Ebola outbreak, industry-backed attacks on a researcher investigating artificial sweeteners’ effects, how parking laws affect housing prices, and more.
Infectious Diseases & Vaccines
CDC: Ebola worsening in West Africa; little risk to general US population
As the Ebola epidemic in West Africa worsens, CDC sends staff to affected countries and issues a travel alert, but stresses that the disease “poses very little risk to the general US population.”
Many hourly workers struggle to get by with too few hours and schedules that are erratic and subject to last-minute changes. The Schedules that Work Act, just introduced by Representative George Miller and Congressional colleagues, aims to help hourly workers achieve flexible and predictable schedules that let them balance work with other obligations.
Journalists and commentators cover the latest developments following the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision, the implications for women’s health, the context of past decisions, and more.
Labor Rights
“You shouldn’t have to win the boss lottery”: The White House Summit on Working Families
Last week’s White House Summit on Working Families served both as a pitch to employers to adopt more family-friendly policies, and as a push for policies that require all employers to evolve for 21st-century realities.
Recent pieces include suggestions for ending drunk driving and reducing poverty; the limits of education as a path to greater equality for African-Americans; and “the corporate crusade against low-wage workers.”
Affordable Care Act
Will employers scrap their health plans and send employees to exchanges? Do we want them to?
A new IRS rule is likely to discourage employers from scrapping their health plans and sending workers to get health insurance from exchanges. Given that a reliance on employer-sponsored insurance disadvantages some workers and contributes to job lock, do we really want employers to keep being such a significant source of insurance coverage?
Two recent reports show how our designing transportation systems with all users in mind can help prevent pedestrian fatalities and improve access to jobs for low-income workers.
The Affordable Care Act has given many women new options for health-insurance coverage and preventive services. A new Kaiser Family Foundation survey finds both reasons for optimism and areas for improvement when it comes to women’s health and the ACA.
Despite the brunches, flower sales, and media attention lavished on moms each Mother’s Day, US policy doesn’t express as much appreciation for mothers (or fathers) as it should.