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| Below is the newest installation of Research News Reporter (RNR) Online. Each month a new edition will be posted. Previous editions can be viewed in the Archives. |
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September 30, 2004 |
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IWPR’s
Research News Reporter is distributed monthly to highlight inventive,
informative, innovative, and sometimes controversial research relating to
women and their families. Each selection includes a short description of
the research and either a link to the report itself or a citation. We
sometimes include short pieces in their entirety. In
this edition:
1.
A New Full-Time Norm: Promoting Work-Life Integration Through
Work-Time Adjustment 1.
A New Full-Time Norm: Promoting Work-Life Integration Through Work-Time
Adjustment This
working paper examines the “time famine” that families face when
trying to balance their jobs with family and community responsibilities
and potential solutions for addressing it. The paper discusses how longer
school days and years to match parents’ long work hours and a shorter
full-time work norm would create a better balance between work and family
activities. Negrey suggests that we were to adopt a shorter full-time
norm, we must continue to promote gender equity in employment by improving
the wages, benefits, and conditions of the working poor. http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C357.pdf 2.
To Have and To Hold: Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights in the
Context of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa This
paper examines the links between HIV/AIDS and women’s property rights in
sub-Saharan Africa. The author explains that AIDS can lead to increased
poverty because of the high medical costs of prolonged illness and
decreased employment capacity. Women and girls are disproportionately
responsible for household caregiving, and therefore bear many of the costs
and burdens of the epidemic. Strickland states that households that have
rights to land and property are better positioned to cope, as they have a
resource base and a stable environment, yet these benefits are not
available to most women in sub-Saharan Africa due to limited property and
inheritance rights. Therefore, the author suggests that strengthening
women’s property and inheritance rights would help female-headed
households and female caregivers better manage the effects of AIDS. The
author identified several areas for future activities: legislative reform,
litigation, strengthening judicial capacity and legal services, education
and awareness, organizing and networking for change, and research and
evaluation. Information
Brief: Working
Paper: 3.
Struggling to Make Ends Meet: Low-Wage Work in America This
report details the results of a comprehensive national survey commissioned
by Corporate Voices for Working Families and conducted by Peter D. Hart
Research Associates and WirthlinWorldwide on issues surrounding low-wage
work in the United States. The survey was given to both low-wage and
non-low-wage workers, so that the responses of the two groups could be
compared. The findings show that 61 percent of all voters believe that the
problem of low-wage jobs has gotten more serious in the past few years and
59 percent said that a person living in their area needed to earn at least
$40,000 a year to support a family of four at a decent level. The survey
also asks about the potential impact of policies and found that 85 percent
of the general public favored tax incentives to create good-paying U.S.
jobs and 84 percent favored employers paying part of or providing full
health coverage. http://www.cvworkingfamilies/Lowwage/lowwage.htm 4.
American Dream: Three
Women, Ten Kids, And A Nation's Drive To End Welfare This
book, written by New York Times reporter and two-time Pulitzer
Prize Finalist Jason DeParle, follows three poor mothers and their ten
kids through their encounters with Wisconsin’s welfare system. The book
is situated in the political context of welfare reform – in fact, the
title (“American Dream”) is taken from President Bill Clinton’s
first welfare speech in February 1993. Through the personal narratives of
each woman, DeParle explores impacts of work requirements, the effect on
children, and the role of fathers on the lives of the women and their
children. Transcript
of release event at the Brookings Institution: The
first chapter of this book is available at the Center for American
Progress: 5.
The State of Working America 2004/2005 This
new book includes over 300 tables and charts and current data on family
income, wages, jobs, wealth, and poverty with regional and international
comparisons. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has released The State
of Working America biennially since 1988, and it continues to be an
important resource for researchers and advocates. Fact sheets on a number
of issues, including wages, poverty, minorities, and women, are available
on EPI’s website. Many state organizations have worked with EPI through
the Economic Analysis and Research Network to produce companion
publications with economic data on individual states. http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/books_swa2004 “State
of Working…” – links to state-level reports Some
examples of state-level reports include: State
of Working Colorado The
State of Working Massachusetts The
State of Working New Mexico
6.
Child Care Assistance Policies 2001-2004: Families Struggling to Move
Forward, States Going Backward This
issue brief provides current state-by-state data and analysis on child
care assistance policies, including income eligibility criteria, waiting
lists, and provider payment rates. The authors find that child care
assistance programs are becoming less available: federal funding for child
care has not increased to meet growing needs, the child care assistance
income eligibility limit decreased between 2001 and 2004 in almost
one-quarter of all states, and 24 states have frozen intake completely for
low-income working families not receiving welfare. http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/childcaresubsidyfinalreport.pdf This edition of IWPR’s Research News Reporter was prepared by Misha Werschkul. |
