Culture Watch

Julia Sneden wrote: On hot days, my brother and I could bike down one hill and up another to a little green puddle partly ringed with a stone wall and a gate with a curved sign above it. There was no clubhouse; no tennis court; no amenity beyond a couple of outdoor restrooms and a trucked-in sandy beach. The lake had a raft in the middle, and a tall swing next to the high diving platform on the edge. On the Fourth of July, there were swimming races for children. I won mine a couple of times when Kay Belden moved up to the older age group, but in the years that we were in the same group, there was no touching her. I learned to dive by watching Kay, and every now and again she'd deign to notice my efforts, and offer advice, which thrilled me. more »

“People tend to experience social change as this irresistible tide of public opinion,” he said. “But there are always many people who worked countless hours to create the context for change actually happening. It’s the same with Freedom to Marry. There were hundreds of deeply engaged people, many of whom we interviewed for this project, who worked to change the discourse so that people would feel that changing their opinion on same-sex marriage was actually the right thing to do.”    more »

A working paper entitled “Millennial Marriage: How Much Does Economic Security Matter to Marriage Rates of Young Adults” finds that socio-economic indicators associated with labor force participation, wages, poverty and housing all relate to marriage rates for young adults ages 18 to 34. Specifically, full-time employment, median annual wages for all types of workers, and owning a home were associated with higher marriage rates. more »

It is now illegal for employers to ask job applicants about their previous salary in at least eight states and eight counties and cities. The laws and ordinances passed in the last two years are aimed at narrowing the persistent pay gap between men and women. A prospective employer who knows your current salary can offer you a pay bump based on that figure – or keep your new salary low. If you’re a woman, you likely make less in your current job than a male recruit with the same skills and experience. more »