Free Republic

Here's a statstic that, taken by itself, doesn't really say much. More American are recieving government assistance for food via the SNAP program (formerly known as food stamps) than there are women working full time. CNS: In the average month of 2012, according to the Department of Agriculture, there were 46,609,000 people participating in the food stamp program (formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). That contrasts with the 44,059,000 women who worked full-time, year-round in 2012, according to the Census Bureau’s report on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States. For each woman who worked...

Most Americans love to reminisce about their first paying job, whether it was scooping ice cream, babysitting, or working behind a retail counter. It was rarely glamorous, but earning that first paycheck was a point of pride and marked a milestone in a teenager's life. By the time Andrew Sum entered his teenage years, he'd already held a job delivering newspapers. Now as an economist, one of his chief concerns is the state of the labor market for today's teenagers. The employment rates for teenagers, ages 16 to 19, plummeted from 45 percent in 2000 to just 26 percent in...

If you live in certain buildings in New York City, you get to know your doorman. The weekend guy in my building, Gene, knew I was a business reporter, and on Saturday he asked me what his son should study when he starts City College next year. (City College, by the way, remains the primary option — and a stellar one — for advanced higher ed in New York for the children of what remains of New York's working class.) Anyway, off the top of my head, I was at a loss. I mostly cover energy, an area that obviously...

A lot of Internet ink has been spilled over how lazy and entitled Millennials are, but when it comes to paying for a college education, work ethic isn't the limiting factor. The economic cards are stacked such that today’s average college student, without support from financial aid and family resources, would need to complete 48 hours of minimum-wage work a week to pay for his courses—a feat that would require superhuman endurance, or maybe a time machine. To take a close look at the tuition history of almost any institution of higher education in America is to confront an unfair...

When the manager of a Michigan gas station failed to show up for work on time, her third-shift employee did what any of us would do; he left an angry note on the door, locked up and went home. Okay, most of us would never do it. But how awesome was it that he did?  The BP manager, who declined to be named, said she was running “30 minutes late” because she slept through her alarm. The tardy manager also said she was surprised that “Joe” left the note on the door instead of calling her before leaving the store.

Pope to Italian Steel Workers: work is essential for human dignity, should be available to all (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has reaffirmed that employment is essential to society, families, and individuals and for the dignity of the human person. In a Vatican audience Thursday for staff and families of the Italian Steel Works company “Acciaierie di Terni” celebrating its 130th anniversary, Pope Francis said his thoughts were directed not only to their company and others in the region, but to “all of the working world.” In the current economic climate and the difficulties facing the work environment, the Pope said,...

Most commentators viewed the February jobs report released on March 7 as good news, indicating that the labor market is on a favorable growth path. A more careful reading shows that employment actually fell—as it has in four out of the past six months and in more than one-third of the months during the past two years. Although it is often overlooked, a key statistic for understanding the labor market is the length of the average workweek. Small changes in the average workweek imply large changes in total hours worked. The average workweek in the U.S. has fallen to 34.2...

Those who argue that higher education is a major league time suck just got more ammunition in a report from the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). “The most new jobs projected for 2022 are expected to be in occupations requiring a high school diploma or equivalent,” BLS reports. “These occupations are projected to add 4.6 million new jobs. About a quarter of these new jobs will be in healthcare and social assistance. Another major area of projected growth for people with a high school diploma or equivalent is construction, which is expected to add almost 1 million jobs...

... Those on the My Brother's Keeper team searching for answers about how to help the most "at risk" young minority men would do well to stop by the Doe Fund in New York City, where, for more than 25 years, the organization run by George and Harriet McDonald has helped homeless men. The program they run is based on a clear contract between the shelter managers and the homeless men. "You get up every day and go to work and stay drug free—and we will pay you and house you and feed you. It's as simple as that," Mr....

A new national survey by Careerbuilder,com puts traffic on top with 39 per cent of those surveyed. There’s nothing like that helpless feeling of sitting in traffic knowing you’re going to be late for work. Next up, lack of sleep at 19 per cent, followed by problems with bad trabsportation at 8 per cent. 7 per cent blame the weather, 6 percent are late due to dropping children at daycare or school and fifteen per cent of employees of employees admit to arriving late for work at least once a week. But there are other more unusual excuses like…

President Obama thanked the group that used to be his reelection campaign, Organizing for Action, in event tonight in Washington. "The work you are doing is God's work," Obama told supporters.

Last week, the Congressional Budget Office released a report discussing the ramifications of Obamacare. The report revealed that the work-hour equivalent of approximately 2.5 million jobs would disappear from the workforce, thanks to Obamacare, in a voluntary process in which employees would simply dump out of their jobs, knowing they could get health care through expanded Medicaid and federal subsidies they would lose by working. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., an ideological leftist thought leader, spun the report as a massive positive for Obamacare: "The single mom, who's raising three kids (and) has to keep a job because of health care,...

Forget about the 1 percent versus the 99 percent. It’s really more like the 0.000001 percent versus everybody else. A tiny group — mostly comprising the Obama White House, a bunch of Washington Democrats, progressive economists, and the media elite — continues to fixate on income inequality as America’s greatest challenge. Most everybody else, the 99.999999 percent, sees things differently. Surveys continue to show Americans most worried about jobs and economic growth, not the income gap between the top and bottom. It’s a rational view given new employment data from the government. The January jobs report showed only 113,000 net...

**SNIP** My, oh, my, how times have changed. America now has a government that views work as a trap and celebrates those who escape it. That is the upshot of last week’s remarkable exchange over ObamaCare. It began when the head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that the interplay of taxes and subsidies in the law “creates a disincentive for people to work.” The report predicted the mix would lead to fewer hours worked, costing the equivalent of nearly 2.5 million jobs. In response, President Obama’s spokesman pleaded guilty — with pride and pleasure.

Booker T. Washington wrote one of America’s greatest autobiographies, a story of how he rose from slavery to leadership. Washington did not minimize the hardship along the way... Washington believed in economic empowerment that would leave ex-slaves no longer poor and lead to political empowerment. Here are excerpts from chapters eight and ten of Up from Slavery: An Autobiography, first published in 1901. They detail Washington’s attitude toward African-Alabamans he met while starting his famous Tuskegee Institute, and the battles he waged to teach practical matters—the equivalent then of today’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). He did not want students...

Helicopter parents, professors who aim to please, the dumbing down of standards in courses and decreasing curriculum requirements have succeeded in reducing our young workforce to a no-discipline, no-talent pool of job seekers. Harsh words for sure — but a generation out there is desperately in need of a reality check. As a small-business employer, I have seen a disturbing downward talent drift in job candidates — most acutely in the past five years. When a job candidate’s first question is about vacation days or benefits, we know we have encountered collateral damage from the teachers and parents who believed...

The central word in President Obama’s State of the Union address wasn’t equality or opportunity. It was work. People will tell you this was a boring speech. Don’t believe them. It was a speech with a sharp edge. It distinguished the free market, represented by Republicans, from the work ethic, represented by Democrats. If that’s the debate in 2014, Democrats stand a good chance of winning. Here’s the basic idea. Many people who vote Republican don’t really believe in the free market. What they believe in is the work ethic. These two things aren’t identical. Sometimes the free market betrays...

Nathaniel Wentz is a 17-year-old kid who plays quarterback for his high school football team. He also works — well, he used to work — during his free time. Why did we say he used to work? Because he was fired from his gig at Odyssey 1 family entertainment center in Tacoma, Washington after he wore a Broncos jersey to work last Sunday. Why was he wearing a Broncos jersey? Because his boss told employees that they could wear jerseys of their favorite teams to work since it was the day of the AFC and NFC Championship Games. Wentz's manager...

The number of Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) receiving food stamps zoomed from 1.7 million to 3.9 million between Fiscal Year 2007 and Fiscal Year 2010. In that same period, food stamp recipients in total grew from 26 million to nearly 40 million. Spending on food stamps now totals somewhere around $80 billion, twice what the number was in Fiscal Year 2008. Presently, the work waivers foisted on the states by Obama allow ABAWDs to receive food stamps indefinitely--without working or preparing for work.

RUSH: Did you know, folks, that if you work hard, you can get ahead? Did you know that? I vaguely remember hearing some nutcases say that, but I didn't believe it. But, yeah, I was just watching the president. There's a thing going on at the White House called the college costs summit. And President Obama's there, along with the first lady, Moochelle. By the way, Saturday night at the White House, big gala, 50th birthday party for Moochelle. I've never heard of this at this kind of thing. Guests are being told to eat dinner before arriving, because this...