By the numbers: To the surprise of no one, child care remains massively expensive and is putting a huge strain on the bank accounts of families around America. But as The Huffington Post reports, a new report released this morning by Child Care Aware of America shows that Louisiana is home to the nation’s most affordable child care on average, while New York is said to be the least affordable. In Louisiana, the average cost of care is less than 10% of the median income for a married couple with children. The organization concludes that the cost of child care is too expensive in all states, but researchers note that costs vary widely by state. The differences are likely due to variability in labor costs and the cost of living expenses. Read the full story.
Talking shop: Gov. Bobby Jindal and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a pair of potential 2016 presidential candidates, ran into each other at the Foreign Policy Initiative’s daylong forum Wednesday in Washington, D.C. ABC News reports the two talked about the U.S. Senate runoff between Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu and Republican Bill Cassidy, and Cruz wished Jindal luck as he went off to the stage. “It was just two guys talking politics—except they might be trying to prevent the other from getting the Republican nomination soon,” wrote ABC News, which has a video and transcript of the exchange.
It’s about time: At the end of the day, many people wonder where all their time went. And as The Wall Street Journal reports, new data-mining tools are helping employers answer that question. The causes of overload have long been suspected—email and meetings—but new techniques that analyze employees’ email headers and online calendars are helping employers pinpoint exactly which work groups impose the most on employees’ time. Common time-wasting habits include copying too many people into emails, the overuse of “reply all” and inviting too many people to meetings. Read the full story.
