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What I’ve Been Reading This Week


Some time on the road for work this week left me with only a little time to read through articles   Nevertheless, I did come across a coupe worth highlighting   Heading into Election Day next week (with several employment and labor law related measures on the ballot) will be something to keep an eye on in the coming days. 

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


The Minimum Number of Hours Needed Per Week to Afford Rent

Molly Schiff recently published an article in which she examined how many hours per week an hourly worker would need to work to afford rent on a one bedroom apartment.  Of course, it would be exhaustive (let alone nearly impossible) to crunch the numbers for a worker in every city in America, Schiff pulls a few key findings from NYC (111 hours/week), Chicago (112 hours/week), Phoenix (65 hours/week), and Dallas (120 hours/week), amongst others.  I encourage readers to page through Schiff’s findings to get a sense of where it is (and is not) affordable to live on a minimum wage salary.


Beginning January 1st: Chicago to Provide 12 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave to City Workers

Watch out, San Diego, Chicago is one step ahead of you.  Readers will likely recall that a proposal was recently made by a San Diego Councilmember to provide workers in the city with twelve weeks of paid parental leave.  While that proposal is debated back and forth, Chicago recently announced that it had reached an agreement with a union representing city employees that will provide city workers with twelve weeks of paid parental leave.  Notably, this paid leave applies to both the birth and non-birthing parent.  Will San Diego be the next city to adopt a similar paid leave measure?

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