At the bottom: According to a national compensation survey of employee benefits conducted last year by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 61% of U.S. workers get at least one paid sick day. But as The Associated Press reports, only 20% of workers whose wages are at the bottom 10% get paid sick leave, compared with 87% in the top 10%. There’s also a wide disparity when comparing part-time and full-time employees: 74% of full-time workers get paid sick leave, while 24% of part-time workers do, according to BLS. Despite the disparities, some industry groups are fighting against laws requiring sick leave pay. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama is calling for federal legislation that would require companies to guarantee workers paid sick days. Read the full story.
A costly education: Retirees are bringing unprecedented levels of student loan debt into their later years, according to a new report that shows Baby Boomers may be woefully unprepared for retirement. USA Today reports that as a result of helping their kids or grandkids pay for college, those ages 65-74 have nearly six times the amount of education debt now than they did two and a half decades ago, when they had almost none, according to an analysis of government data by LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute. For retirees in this age group, education debt has grown from less than 1% in 1989 to 15% of the overall “installment” debt they have in retirement. Read the full story.
Gone to the dogs: Almost a third of Americans—32%—believe animals should be given the same rights as people, while 62% say they deserve some protection but can still be used for the benefit of humans. That’s according to a new poll from Gallup, which says the strong animal rights view is up from 2008 when 25% thought the rights of animals should be on par with those of humans. Very few Americans—3%—believe animals require little protection from harm and exploitation “since they are just animals.” But, as noted, a modestly increasing minority now believe animals should have the same protection from harm and exploitation as people. Read the full story.
