Posts

Showing posts from November, 2016

Time to move on, but not so easy

Like many Americans, accepting the election results has been tough. It's not because I'm surprised by Hillary's historical loss (I'm not, I recognized her flaws and accepted them), it's because of how president-elect Trump won. Divisive rhetoric that at it's core was meant to ensure that white Americans who felt threatened by the United States changing demographics weren't going to be forgotten. The covert message resonated and to Samantha Bee's point, "White people. I guess ruining Brooklyn was a dry run!" (Watch it.) During the campaign president-elect Trump constantly talked about how the election was "rigged." In his win I can finally see the truth in that statement. Hillary had the cash, the pollsters, the experience, but one thing she didn't have was the media. Trump edged her out on that front and in the end I think media spin played a significant role in killing her presidential campaign. Social and main stream televisi

Millennials make paid family leave matter

When you accept a job offer, it's just not about the salary, the benefits package your potential employer will offer also matters. Overtime many workers have come to expect 401k matches, paid time off (PTO), life insurance coverage, wellness benefits, etc. But what about paid family leave for birth or adoption of a child? Currently the United States is the only industrial nation that doesn't mandate paid leave for new mothers and fathers. There have been some companies, mostly the tech sector (Facebook, Google, Amazon) bucking the trend by offering this benefit.  However, many workers don't get paid-leave and if you are one of the lucky ones it probably only covers a woman's postpartum bonding with child for six weeks for a vaginal birth and eight weeks for a c-section under short-term disability (STD). For me the fact that we classify child birth as a disability is a part of the problem. If you can afford to stay home longer you'll get up to 12 w