No Images? Click here Greetings, friends! Welcome to our first newsletter of 2017. The Better Life Lab is here with the best curated news, research, and data to move policy, practice, and culture, and to help you live your best life at work and at home in the new year! The Case for Higher WagesA recent study focused on minimum wage practices found a group of workers who may benefit more readily than others: the most productive. The study, covered by the New York Times, suggests that companies which raise the minimum wage attract more productive employees than their competitors. Once a city or state raises the minimum wage, however, the competitive edge may go away. The need for a higher minimum wage is becoming more apparent, whether it's better for business or not. An ongoing United Way study into financial hardship found 25 percent of Maryland families are living above the federal poverty line but unable to pay for basic household expenses. In New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation increasing the minimum wage last April, 55 percent of jobs paid less than $20 per hour. Caring About Health CareCongress has started taking its first steps towards repealing the Affordable Care Act with a budget resolution which will set the stage for a budget reconciliation process. This process could fast track the repeal of parts of the ACA. While it would not result in a total repeal just yet, the reconciliation could empty the Obamacare coffers until the bill is repealed in full. For details on budget reconciliation, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has provided key facts to know and a background guide to the process. One point of contention on both sides of the aisle is lack of a replacement for the ACA, and for good reason. Research from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth suggests a repeal would widen income and health inequality. To keep up with all of Congress's actions surrounding the ACA, Vox has compiled news sources covering every aspect. Women's Wealth and the Modern WorkplaceIt’s no secret by now that on average, women earn less than men in the workplace. A recent study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research showed that white women from the Baby Boomer generation held 9 percent less wealth than white men, and most relied on homeownership to build their bank accounts. Still, a 2013 survey from Pew revealed that wage parity based on gender is on the rise. Women aged 25 to 34 earned 93 percent of what their male colleagues did in 2012. This could be due to changing rates of women's employment - 57 percent of women participated in the labor force as of 2015. Compare this to 33 percent employment in 1948, the start of the Baby Boomer generation. Growing Up and Growing Old in the Robotics AgeWhether you’re going to be caring for your children or your parents in 30 years, futurists are using today’s tech trends to predict what that may look like. Developing artificial intelligences could one day be used to interact with kids, both to entertain and to educate. Even now, fitness trackers and home automation devices (such as Amazon’s Echo) are being used to monitor well-being and provide a semblance of human interaction to the elderly. Better Life Lab in the NewsThe Better Life Lab’s own Care Report was recently cited in two articles on child care scarcity. When their government failed to place their children in child care centers and prevented them from returning to work, three German women found a solution. The Atlantic reports they successfully sued for lost wages as part of a “sustainable family policy” to ease the load on working parents. Women in the United States have no such recourse, given that over half of US zip codes lack quality child care. Better Life Lab director Brigid Schulte and senior policy analyst Alieza Durana were both quoted in the piece, which emphasizes the high cost that comes with caring for children in the US. Read more of our work on child care and paid family leave policy here. Apply to Be a Fellow at New America!The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) has selected New America as a host organization for the Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows Program, a career-building fellowship initiative designed to expand the reach of doctoral education in the humanities. In 2017, the Public Fellows program will place up to 22 recent PhDs from the humanities and humanistic social sciences in two-year staff positions at partnering organizations in government and the nonprofit sector. The application deadline is March 22, 2017 (8pm EDT). Click here for more information on the New America-ACLS fellowship and how to apply. That's a wrap! We'll look forward to seeing your inbox again soon.Follow us on Twitter and Facebook — and suggest your best reads on living a better life! Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here! About New AmericaNew America is dedicated to the renewal of American politics, prosperity, and purpose in the Digital Age. Our hallmarks are big ideas, pragmatic policy solutions, technological innovation, and creative engagement with broad audiences. Read the rest of our story, or see what we've been doing recently in our latest Annual Report. About the Better Life LabNew America’s Breadwinning & Caregiving Program is thrilled to unveil a new name, the Better Life Lab, and an updated agenda to transform policy and culture so that people and families have the opportunity to live their best lives at work and at home. As a “lab,” we are dedicated to disruptive experiments, collaborative work, and innovative thinking. “Your Life, Better: News From the Better Life Lab” will be our way to keep you in the know, featuring the best of what we’re reading and writing about gender equity, the evolution of work, and social policies that support 21st-century families. We will be a clear signal amid the noise to share what’s fresh and crucial to an inclusive vision of work-life, gender, and income equity issues. Better Life Lab Real choices. Real parity. All people. |