News About Inequality - December 2007

'Firms Find Ways Around State Health Law'

• The Boston Globe, December 23, 2007
  To comply with the new state insurance law, a Burger King franchisee in Boston expanded coverage from just his salaried staff to all full-timers. To control his costs, he halved the share he pays. Only three of the 27 newly eligible employees took the insurance; others say they can't afford it.

'Kids in Poor Neighborhoods Fall Behind in School'

• Business Week, December 21, 2007
  Study finds they lose about 4 points on IQ tests compared to better-off peers.

'The New (Improved) Gilded Age'

• The Economist, December 19, 2007
  Consumption surveys, which track what people actually spend, sketch a more lifelike portrait of the material quality of life...

'Pre-K Politics in the States'

• The American Prospect, December 11, 2007
  Pennsylvania and Illinois have made early childhood education a priority. Can other states -- and Washington -- learn from their example?

'Boy Scouts Lose Philadelphia Lease in Gay-Rights Fight'

• New York Times, December 6, 2007
  For three years the Philadelphia council of the Boy Scouts of America held its ground. It resisted the city's request to change its discriminatory policy toward gay people despite threats that if it did not do so, the city would evict the group from a municipal building where the Scouts have resided practically rent free since 1928.