Playing Catch-Up on the News

After taking almost two weeks of vacation to explore the mountains of New York and New England, I've come back to find some important information in my inbox.  Please check out these stories if you've missed them:

• Pennsylvania's Gender Gap: Men still typically earn more than women in Pennsylvania, although the gender gap has narrowed over the last 30 years.
• Trend of Disbelief: The number of abused women seeking shelter in Philly is skyrocketing. The number of beds for them isn't.: In Philadelphia, Women Against Abuse, the city's only overnight shelter for victims of domestic violence, has had to turn away 3,115 so far this year because of a lack of space.
• Rural Workers Have Less Access to Paid Sick Days: This analysis suggests that where one works matters, both geographically and by sector, and the quality of the job also matters. The rural disadvantage is particularly pronounced among rural private-sector workers and part-time workers, but even rural full-time workers have less access to paid sick days than their urban counterparts.
• Among cuts in federal budget proposal: Funds for poor seniors' food: "Deep in the proposed $3 trillion federal budget is a little-noticed line that would take food away from 150,000 senior citizens living in poverty throughout America."
• Ten million Americans could lose their SNAP (food stamp) benefits, under the 2012 federal budget working its through Congress.:SNAP (food stamps) and other federal nutrition programs face significant threats as Congress negotiates its budget for 2012. Under the House budget, Pennsylvania alone could lose $4.11 billion in SNAP benefits.