Four in 10 working dads say they would take a pay cut to spend more time with their families. (“Men & Women at Work 2004” survey by Career Builder, WorkLife Today, 7/04)
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Percentage of students who reported feeling so depressed over the last school year that it was difficult to function: 45.1 percent. (“Some Colleges Try Zero-Tolerance Toward Suicide Attempts,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/15/04)
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Research shows that quality educational childcare for pre-school age children and after-school programs for older children leads to lower rates of crime, drug use and welfare dependence, and to higher rates of high school graduation as the children grow up. (“America's Childcare and Pre-K Crisis: A Crime Prevention Tragedy,” A Research Brief by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids; www.fightcrime.org)
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From 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, children are most likely to become victims of a crime or accident, engage in at-risk behavior, or commit crimes, according to a report from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a national, nonprofit youth violence prevention group.
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Unintentional injury is the number one killer of children ages 14 and under according to the National Safe Kids Campaign, and the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics reports that youth ages 12 to 17 are twice as likely as adults to be victims of serious violent crimes.
Prenatal
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Studies show that every dollar spent on prenatal care (medical) saves $3 of postpartum care. (The Wall Street Journal, 10/18/04)
Retirement
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Under regulations proposed on November 10 by the Treasury Dept. and the IRS, employees at least 59½ years old, who wish to take advantage of a phased retirement program, would agree to reduce their work hours by at least 20 percent and receive a proportional benefit from their pension. (“Proposed regulations would allow phased retirement,” BenefitsNews.com, 11/11/04)
Workplace Safety
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Experts say few enterprises are seriously considering—or preparing for—another, potentially more serious, terrorist attack. A study conducted by The Hartford Financial Services Group showed that the most popular precaution against emergencies or disasters was backing up data and records. About 61 percent have procedures for reporting acts of workplace violence, 53 percent have taken measures to prevent unauthorized entry into buildings and 44 percent have plans protecting their operations and employees in the event of natural disasters. (“Beyond Fire Drills,” Human Resource Executive, 10/2/04)
