Few among us would think that access to sanitary napkins is a problem. Yet to the less fortunate among us, it is. Now, New York City made history recently by enacting legislation enabling women in schools, correctional facilities and shelters to have access to tampons and pads during their periods. The lack of access has had sad and objectionable effects that usually went unmentioned because the whole idea of menstruation and menstrual products have been taboo. NYC is in the lead as far as the US is concerned. Canada abolished its goods and services tax on menstrual products last summer. The European Union allows the Value Added Tax to be 0 and even Kenya Continue reading “Tampons and Pads and a New Law”
Category: Poverty
A New Kind of Debtor Prison
Nicholas Kristoff, the thoughtful and socially conscious NYT columnist wrote eloquently about what could be called debtors’ prison not long ago drawing attention to the fact that people who can’t afford to pay fines are jailed instead, a system that ensures they won’t be able to pay. Serving time puts one’s job in jeopardy, should one have a job because many of those who are fined are homeless, for example being fined for sleeping on a park bench. The system also places the children of single parents at risk, and can mean eviction for some. Still nation- wide the practice continues and is often Continue reading “A New Kind of Debtor Prison”
The Plight of Poultry Workers
I’m revolted by certain working conditions, by what people have to do to earn a living and be able to survive. I’ve written about farm laborers and Amazon employees, now I find that poultry workers work in what an Oxfam recent report calls grim conditions. The machines are faster than they were years ago, they have to process 34 chickens per minute, and in an 8-hour shift, they only have a half hour for lunch. They are not entitled Continue reading “The Plight of Poultry Workers”
A $149 Million Mansion
Two figures from The U.S. Census Bureau’s data for 2014 provide a slice of reality: 14.8% of the U.S. population was living in poverty and the median income was $53,700. You may recall median means the point at which one half was living below $53,700, and the other half above.
Then there’s the unreal—or what seems unreal to me: A Beverly Hills mansion which was on the market for $195 million a few months ago and which has been reduced to $149 million. It was bought in 2007 for $35 million but extensive work is said to have been done. The $149 million estate includes 12 Continue reading “A $149 Million Mansion”