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The federal minimum wage -- $5.15 an hour -- has not changed since 1997. Since then, minimum-wage earners have lost 17 percent of their purchasing power to inflation. Supporters of increasing the rate say it would lift many Americans out of poverty, but business groups say an increase would hurt the working poor because it would cause companies to lay off low-wage workers. In any case, they say, many minimum-wage earners are middle-class teens earning pocket money, not poor adults. Attempts in Congress to raise the minimum wage failed this year, but perennial sponsor Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., says he will try again next year. Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., now have higher minimum wages than the federal level, and 130 cities and counties have so-called living-wage laws requiring public contractors to pay significantly higher wages. Nevada and Florida recently passed minimum-wage ballot initiatives, and more state battles are looming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

America is teeming with Wal-Marts, Home Depots and other "big-box" chain stores — some larger than five football fields. Millions of consumers like the low prices, free parking and one-stop shopping convenience offered by the megastores, while policymakers say the stores create jobs, enable customers to save money for other expenditures and pump much-needed tax dollars into community coffers. But critics say big-box stores actually harm local economies and flourish only because they receive public subsidies, pay low salaries and benefits and utilize unethical and possibly illegal practices to drive smaller, locally owned competitors out of business. Critics also say they cause added traffic congestion and suburban sprawl, force U.S. companies to ship high-paying manufacturing jobs overseas and cost more in local services than the taxes they generate. Communities increasingly are passing special ordinances to keep the big retailers out, but the chains are fighting back, saying they are simply giving consumers what they want. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past 40 years, the nation's marriage rate has dropped from three-quarters of American households to slightly over half. Moreover, nearly 50 percent of all U.S. marriages now end in divorce, and the number of households with unmarried couples has risen dramatically. Some scholars say that although traditional marriage will not disappear entirely, it will never again be the nation's pre-eminent social arrangement. In the future, they say, the United States will look more like Europe, where couples increasingly are opting to cohabit rather than marry. But other experts argue that the recent decrease in the divorce rate and other positive trends point to a brighter future for marriage. Meanwhile, actions by a number of state courts and local officials in favor of same-sex unions have helped ignite a debate over the issue and prompted conservatives to push for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most American mothers work today, thanks partly to the women's movement. But a new crop of activist mothers is calling for a shift in focus from careers to raising families. They want to spend more time with their children — through part-time work or taking time off — without paying stiff economic penalties. Part-time workers generally earn less than full-time workers, receive no benefits and are pushed off promotion tracks. Several mothers' groups are calling for ambitious government benefits to reward at-home caregiving. But their embryonic movement faces a backlash from childless workers, who resent subsidizing parents with benefits like paid parental leave. In addition, some skeptics wonder if high-earning young professionals are being too greedy by insisting on "having it all" — both family and career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A serious shortage of registered nurses (RNs) is forcing thousands of U.S. hospitals to function with skeleton crews, possibly causing hundreds of unnecessary deaths and injuries. Many nurses are simply getting old and retiring, but many experts blame the shortage on low pay, poor working conditions and low enrollments in nursing schools. Meanwhile short-staffed hospitals are taking controversial steps such as offering large signing bonuses and recruiting nurses from overseas. Nationwide, there was a shortage in 2001 of 126,000 full-time RNs, but the shortage will surge to 808,000 by 2020 if something isn't done. Even more worrisome, many disaster experts say last year's terrorist attacks dramatized the possibility that a chemical, biological or nuclear attack could overwhelm the nation's nursing work force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labor experts predict a shortage of workers over the next two decades. The good news: The best jobs will pay well, even though they will require more education. The bad news: The continuing shift to a service and retail economy means more jobs — such as cashiers and clerks — with low pay, few benefits and limited upward mobility. Yet, the middle ground is not barren. Many high-demand jobs will require modest education or training and still pay fairly well. Jobs in nursing, computer support and dental hygiene only require associate's degrees; desktop publishers and tractor-trailer truck drivers need only on-the-job training and a vocational certificate. To succeed in the workplace, experts say tomorrow's workers must continually update their skills. They also warn job seekers to be realistic: High aspirations are fine, but there are only so many good jobs to go around. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gap between the incomes of poor and wealthy citizens is larger in the United States than in any other industrialized country. Last year, for the first time in almost two decades, low unemployment and increases in the minimum wage helped boost the earnings of Americans at the bottom of the pay scale. But tax policies and the use of stock options as part of corporate executives' compensation packages are helping to divert a growing portion of the nation's wealth to the richest Americans and away from the poor and the middle class. If the current economic boom continues, unskilled workers and those at the low end of the compensation pool will continue to benefit, experts say. But the disparity in Americans' incomes is not likely to disappear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American work force, predominantly white and male throughout history, is becoming more and more diverse. Women now comprise almost half of the labor force, while the number of African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American workers is increasing more rapidly than the number of whites. The increased diversity has created strains in many workplaces. It also has spawned a specialized industry of consultants to advise organizations on how to manage the new mixture of race, gender and culture at work more effectively - and how to avoid the kind of discrimination suits that ensnared Texaco. Some critics say the diversity movement has fueled hostility toward white males. But diversity advocates say they are helping employees and employers alike to value cultural differences and maximize the productivity of all workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Teamsters union strike against United Parcel Service this summer highlighted major economic and social issues. While the union's victory was seen as a boost for the labor movement, the event also raised public awareness of the ongoing debate over America's increasing reliance on "contingent" workers. Made up of part-timers, temporaries, independent contractors and the self-employed, this widening "reserve army" of workers serves mostly at the convenience of the employers and the dictates of economic forces, and often must do with less pay and fewer benefits than full-time workers. Though the bulk of contingent workers embrace their "non-standard work" arrangements voluntarily, debate is focusing on the significant number who accept such uncertain status because it's their only choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty years of modern feminism have shattered old barriers in employment, education, sports and military service, bringing uncounted changes in American life. Most Americans endorse the progress, but many women resist the term "feminist". They fear being stereotyped as strident, humorless and anti-male, or worry that feminists downgrade the importance of motherhood. The women's movement, meanwhile, has spawned an array of competing organizations that disagree over such issues as abortion, pornography and the proper role for government in American life. Most attacks on feminism nowadays are heard from conservative females. But feminist leaders say that an electoral "gender gap"and high levels of political activism show that the movement is alive and even growing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nation's sensitivity to sexual harassment has changed profoundly since October 1991, when Anita Hill's harassment charges against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas riveted Americans to their TV sets. Sexual harassment claims filed with the federal government have increased dramatically, as have damages paid to successful plaintiffs. Some critics sympathetic to business say the nation has overreacted. They attack several recent multimillion-dollar jury awards as excessive punishments for what they claim is nothing more than crude sexual joking at work. Women's-rights activists respond that sexual harassment is often emotionally devastating, and that only a tiny proportion of the women who have been harassed ever file formal complaints, though harassment is a widespread problem in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Affirmative action has emerged as one of the nation's hottest political issues. Supporters say the policy has opened opportunities for women and minorities and is still needed to offset discrimination. Critics say it has evolved into quotas, preferences and set-asides that amount to reverse discrimination against white males. Republican lawmakers and presidential hopefuls want to end affirmative action; President Clinton has called for an internal review of affirmative action policies in scores of federal programs. In California, a proposed ballot initiative would outlaw race- and gender-based policies in public education, public employment and government contracting. Polls show Americans favor affirmative action but oppose quotas and preferences. The issue is likely to simmer through the 1996 elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the first members of the baby-boom generation enter middle age, concern is mounting that millions of Americans in this huge population group won't be able to retire in comfort. Social Security payments will only meet a small part of most retirees' financial needs. The other traditional sources of retirement income -- employer-sponsored pension plans and personal savings -- may be less secure. Pension coverage for workers is about as broad as ever, but the kinds of pensions available are changing drastically, as cost-conscious employers shift the burden of saving for retirement from the company to the worker. Financial advisers are warning today's workers to start saving early for retirement if they want a secure old age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, nearly 60 percent of the nation's labor force are women or minorities, yet white males still hold most of the top jobs in corporations, labor unions, universities and other institutions. Some say it's because women and minorities have not been in the labor pipeline long enough to have reached the top spots, or because women drop in and out of the work force to have babies or take care of small children. But study after study has documented artificial, and often unseen, barriers to advancement by women and minorities. Advocates are calling on companies and other institutions to dismantle those barriers, and for government to help. Increasingly, it's being seen not only as a question of social justice, but business efficiency: America will need all its talent to compete in a global marketplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More and more Americans are shouting, "Stop the world, I want to get off!" Opinion polls reveal rising numbers who feel stressed, while some studies suggest a decline in leisure time and an increase in how much people work. Two-career families are especially buffeted by this trend. As the baby-boom generation negotiates parenthood and middle age, concerned groups are pushing workaholics to shift out of overdrive and spend more time with their families. The business world is trying to become more "family friendly," but managers are under pressure to remain economically competitive. Conflicts between work and family continue to raise questions about the roles of men and women, questions that society has been struggling with since women first entered the work force in large numbers three decades ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate chiefs are on the hot seat nowadays as the public reels with each report of a record-setting executive pay package. With salary and stock deals in the range of $80 million at companies such as Time Warner, H.J. Heinz and Coca-Cola, average wage earners beset by economic recession are reacting with anger and amazement. Disgruntled shareholders are descending on annual meetings to charge that officers are even being rewarded when company performance is poor. Defenders say high salaries are needed to attract top talent and to give executives an incentive to make tough decisions. But that hasn't stopped many boards of directors from rethinking methods of setting executive pay. Congress and federal regulators are also entering the fray. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THE LAST TWO DECADES HAVE SEEN GREAT GAINS for girls and women in sports. As participation in fitness training and competition has soared, performance has improved so much that two researchers recently predicted that top women runners may someday overtake men. But the male-dominated world of athletics doesn't yet offer a level playing field. Female athletes still face discrimination as amateurs, and at the professional level struggling teams have to scramble for sponsors and fans. A study by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, due this spring, may help gauge inequities in college funding and other opportunities. Meanwhile, Title IX, a 20-year-old law that was supposed to end discrimination in sports, is today being blamed for drastically shrinking the ranks of female coaches and administrators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]