Ill. penalizes employers who shortchange workers, By Sophia Tareen (AP), July 30, 2010, Washington Post: “Employers who shortchange or don’t pay their employees will face stiffer penalties and workers will have more rights under a bill Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law Friday, which experts say makes Illinois’ wage theft laws among the strongest in the country. Starting Jan. 1, a repeat offense will be considered a felony, not a misdemeanor. Also, employers who violate wage theft laws will have to pay workers back from the date of nonpayment with interest and a $250 fine. Depending on the violation, the employer may also owe interest to the Illinois Department of Labor…”
Day: August 4, 2010
Childhood Hunger and Long-Term Health
- Study: Effects of childhood hunger last for decades, By Alice Park, August 2, 2010, Time.com: “Going hungry is a major contributor to ill health, particularly among children, and now a new report reveals how long-lasting the damage can be. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the University of Calgary performed the first long-term study on the effects of hunger on general health, tracking children from birth to 21 years. Most studies to date have offered only snapshots of child health, assessing the short-term impact of hunger over a given period of time. In the new analysis, the scientists found that children who went hungry at least once in their lifetimes were two-and-a-half times more likely to have poor overall health 10 to 15 years later, compared with those who never had to go without food…”
- Lack of food puts kids at risk for asthma, other chronic ills, August 3, 2010, BusinessWeek: “Children and youth who don’t have enough to eat are at increased risk of poor health, and repeated episodes of hunger may put them at risk for chronic diseases such as asthma, researchers say. The finding is from an analysis of data from a Canadian survey of 5,809 children aged 10 to 15 years and 3,333 youth aged 16 to 21 years, which was conducted from 1994 to 2004-2005. During that time, 3.3 percent of children and 3.9 percent of youth experienced hunger at some point and 1.1 percent of children and 1.4 percent of youth went hungry on two or more occasions, the study found…”