Over the last three years, households with incomes of $75,000 and up have experienced a dreary, often harsh employment landscape. In more than one-quarter of these households, someone has lost a job. In nearly half of such …
Careers & Workplace
Same Old Story: Health Insurance Premiums Soar, Yet Again
Haven’t we all heard this one before? The average cost of health insurance premiums rose sharply this year: Family costs are up 9%, topping $15,000 annually for the first time. Over the last 10 years, family premiums have risen …
Why You Should Get a Tax Credit for Volunteer Work
With millions of people down on their luck the past three years, older folks have filled big voids and provided real economic value through volunteerism. Now we’re going to slash their benefits?
Nasty Cashier? Indifferent Waitress? Here’s Why You Should Complain
If you find that you're treated rudely when you patronize a store or other business, don't take it personally: A new study finds that one-third of consumers say they experience disrespectful treatment once a month. This uncivil …
Work from Home? You Must Be a Slacker
The concept of working from home took a beating during the Great Recession, raising questions about companies’ ability to make the most of the wired world. The setback also throws a bit of cold water on the hopes of mature …
Online Eyeglass Company Offers Much-Needed Alternative
Consumers spend a lot of time worrying — or at least complaining — about those prices that seem to keep climbing ever-higher: gasoline, health insurance, college tuition. So it’s a pleasure to stumble, every once in a …
Come Again? American Auto Workers Get Signing Bonuses?
As the auto industry climbs out of the worst economic slowdown since the Great Depression, workers are demanding higher pay. But the closest thing they are likely to get from a labor agreement between the United Auto Workers and …
More Young Adults Are Poor, Live With Their Parents
It’s not your imagination: It really is more crowded at mom and dad’s place. The Census Bureau made headlines yesterday with news that the nation’s official poverty rate hit 15.1%, the highest since 1993. Tough times have also translated into a rise in adult children moving back into (or never leaving) their parent’s homes. In the spring
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Downgrading the American Dream
The American Dream has been downgraded, too.
The Most Overlooked (and Important) Proposal in Obama’s Jobs Plan
It’s no big secret that young Americans are hurting. Youth unemployment is double the national average, college debt loads and defaults are the highest in history, and only 25% of young people had traditional jobs lined up upon …
Got a Job Offer? Why You Should Ask for an Implausibly High Salary
Upon being offered a job, the first step should be to pause and enjoy your good fortune. (Jobs are pretty scarce, if you haven’t heard.) Then, to start salary negotiations, toss out a ridiculously high dollar figure. The request …
Obama’s Jobs Plan: Will it be Enough to Revive the Economy?
President Obama’s jobs plan, which he outlined Thursday night in a televised speech to the nation, is more ambitious than many people might have predicted. It’s a $447 billion package including lots of tax cuts and some serious …