Worker Voice in America: Is There a Gap between What Workers Expect and What They Experience?

ILR Review ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Kochan ◽  
Duanyi Yang ◽  
William T. Kimball ◽  
Erin L. Kelly

This article is the fifth in a series to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the ILR Review. The series features articles that analyze the state of research and future directions for important themes this journal has featured over many years of publication. The decline in unionization experienced in the United States over the past 40 years raises a question of fundamental importance to workers, society, and the field of industrial relations: Have workers lost interest in having a voice at work, or is there a gap between workers’ expectations for a voice and what they actually experience? And if a “voice gap” exists, what options are available to workers to close that gap? The authors draw on a nationally representative survey of workers that both updates previous surveys conducted in 1977 and 1995 and goes beyond the scope of these previous efforts to consider a wider array of workplace issues and voice options. Results indicate that workers believe they should have a voice on a broad set of workplace issues, but substantial gaps exist between their expected and their actual level of voice at work. Nearly 50% of non-union workers say they would vote for a union, compared to approximately one-third in the two prior national surveys, which points to continued interest in unions as a voice mechanism. Additionally, the authors find significant variation in the rates of use of different voice options and workers’ satisfaction with those options. The results suggest that a sizable voice gap exists in American workplaces today, but at the same time, no one voice option fits all workers or all issues.

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 918-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samir Soneji ◽  
JaeWon Yang ◽  
Meghan Bridgid Moran ◽  
Andy S L Tan ◽  
James Sargent ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective To assess changes in engagement with online tobacco and electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) marketing (online tobacco marketing) among adolescents in the United States between 2013 and 2015. Methods We assessed the prevalence of six forms of engagement with online tobacco marketing, both overall and by brand, among adolescents sampled in Wave 1 (2013–2014; n = 13651) and Wave 2 (2014–2015; n = 12172) of the nationally representative Population Assessment for Tobacco and Health Study. Engagement was analyzed by tobacco use status: non-susceptible never tobacco users; susceptible never tobacco users; ever tobacco users, but not within the past year; and past-year tobacco users. Results Among all adolescents, the estimated prevalence of engagement with at least one form of online tobacco marketing increased from 8.7% in 2013–2014 to 20.9% in 2014–2015. The estimated prevalence of engagement also increased over time across all tobacco use statuses (eg, from 10.5% to 26.6% among susceptible adolescents). Brand-specific engagement increased over time for cigarette, cigar, and e-cigarette brands. Conclusion Engagement with online tobacco marketing, both for tobacco and e-cigarettes, increased almost twofold over time. This increase emphasizes the dynamic nature of online tobacco marketing and its ability to reach youth. The Food and Drug Administration, in cooperation with social networking sites, should consider new approaches to regulate this novel form of marketing. Implications This is the first study to estimate the national prevalence of engagement with online tobacco marketing among adolescents over time. The estimated prevalence of this engagement approximately doubled between 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 among all adolescents and, notably, among adolescents at relatively low risk to initiate tobacco use. This increase in engagement could represent public health harm if it results in increased initiation and use of tobacco products. Stronger federal regulation of online tobacco marketing and tighter control of access to tobacco-related content by social media sites could reduce adolescents’ exposure to and engagement with online tobacco marketing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 1228-1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Drouin ◽  
Robert C. McMillen ◽  
Jonathan D. Klein ◽  
Jonathan P. Winickoff

Purpose: To report on adults’ recall of discussion by physicians and dentists about e-cigarettes. Design: A nationally representative cross-sectional survey (Internet and random digit dialing) in the United States. Participants: Adults who ever used e-cigarettes. Measures: Participant-reported discussion about the potential benefits and harms of e-cigarettes with their doctor, dentist, or child’s doctor in the past 12 months. Analysis: Fisher exact test for the analysis between benefits and harms for each type of provider and for rates of advice between provider types. Results: Among the 3030 adults who completed the survey, 523 (17.2%) had ever used e-cigarettes. Of those who had seen their doctor, dentist, or child’s doctor in the last year, 7.3%, 1.7%, and 10.1%, respectively, reported discussing potential harms of e-cigarettes. Conversely, 5.8%, 1.7%, and 9.3% of patients who had seen their doctor, dentist, or child’s doctor in the last year reported that the clinician discussed the potential benefits of e-cigarettes. Each clinician type was as likely to discuss harms as benefits. Rates of advice were similar between doctors and child’s doctors but lower for dentists. Rates were comparable when the analysis was limited to current e-cigarette users, participants with children, or those who reported using both e-cigarettes and combusted tobacco. Conclusions: Few physicians and dentists discuss either the harms or benefits of e-cigarettes with their patients. These data suggest an opportunity to educate, train, and provide resources for physicians and dentists about e-cigarettes and their use.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (21-22) ◽  
pp. 4517-4532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joah L. Williams ◽  
Elise H. Racette ◽  
Melba A. Hernandez-Tejada ◽  
Ron Acierno

Elder abuse, including emotional, physical, sexual, financial, and neglectful mistreatment is widespread in the United States, with as much as 11% of community-residing older adults experiencing some form of abuse in the past year. Little data exist regarding the prevalence of polyvictimization, or experience of multiple forms of abuse, which may exacerbate negative outcomes over that of any one form of victimization in isolation. This study evaluates the prevalence of elder polyvictimization among a nationally representative sample of community-residing U.S. older adults. Data from the National Elder Mistreatment Study were examined using bivariate and logistic regression analyses. Approximately, 1.7% of older adults experienced past-year polyvictimization, for which risk factors included problems accomplishing activities of daily living (odds ratio [OR] = 2.47), low social support (OR = 1.64), and past experience of traumatic events (OR = 4.81). Elder polyvictimization is a serious problem affecting community-residing older adults with identifiable targets for intervention.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett Hisler ◽  
Jean Twenge

Understanding how health has changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is critical to reducing and recovering from the pandemic. This study focused on how sleep health in the United States may have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sleep duration and number of days in the past week with difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, and not feeling rested in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults collected before the COVID-19 outbreak (2018 National Health Interview Survey, n = 19,433) was compared to the same measures in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults collected during the COVID-19 outbreak (2020 Luc.id, n = 2,059). Sleep duration was slightly shorter in 2020 than 2018 (d = -.05). Moreover, the prevalence of insufficient sleep duration (RR = 1.20) and the number of days with difficulty falling asleep (d = .54), difficulty staying asleep (d =.36), and not feeling rested (d = .14) was greater in 2020 than 2018. Twice as many people in 2020 reported experiencing at least one night of difficulty falling asleep (RR = 1.95) or staying asleep (RR = 1.75). Adults younger than 60 and those who belonged to an Asian racial group had larger differences than other age and racial groups between 2018 and 2020. Thus, sleep health in U.S. adults was worse in 2020 than in 2018, particularly in younger and Asian adults. Findings highlight sleep as target in future research and interventions seeking to understand and reduce the effects of the spread of COVID-19.


Sexual Health ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonita J. Iritani ◽  
Carol A. Ford ◽  
William C. Miller ◽  
Denise Dion Hallfors ◽  
Carolyn Tucker Halpern

Background: Many studies rely on respondent reports of prior diagnosed sexually transmissible infections (STIs), but these self reports are likely to under-estimate infection prevalence. The extent of bias from using self-reported STI data, and whether bias varies by sex and race, is largely unknown. This gap is addressed using a large, nationally representative sample. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Participants were 18–26 years old (n = 12 359). Estimates of the prevalence of chlamydial infection based on self-reported diagnoses in the past year were compared with actual prevalence based on nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) at the time of data collection. Ratios of test-identified prevalence to self-reported diagnosis prevalence were calculated by sex and race/ethnicity groups. Larger ratios indicate greater extent of self reports under-estimating infection prevalence. Results: About 4.2% of the sample had a current NAAT-identified chlamydial infection, but only 3.0% reported having been diagnosed with chlamydia in the past year, yielding a ratio of 1.43. The ratio of test-identified infection prevalence to prevalence identified from self-reported diagnoses was larger among men than women (2.07 versus 1.14, P < 0.05). Among men, the ratio was larger among non-Hispanic blacks (2.40) compared with non-Hispanic whites (1.07, P < 0.05). Conclusions: Use of self-reported diagnoses under-estimates chlamydial infection prevalence, particularly among men, and among non-Hispanic black men. Reliance on self-reported STIs may consequently lead to biased conclusions, particularly for these groups. Use of biological testing for STIs in research studies is recommended.


1980 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. King

During the millennium which followed the introduction of mathematics and astronomy from Indian, Sasanian and Hellenistic sources to the vigorous cultural scene of Abbasid Iraq in the eighth and ninth centuries, Muslim scientists compiled a remarkably rich and varied corpus of literature relating to their subject. Some of this literature survives in the manuscript libraries of the Near East, Europe and the United States, and a very small number of scholars have turned their attention to a small fraction of this material during the past 200 years. Catalogs of varying quality exist for some of these libraries, but there are many important collections which are not yet cataloged at all. Valuable lists of authors, titles and available manuscripts have been prepared by H. Suter, C. Brockelmann, C. A. Storey and, most recently, by F. Sezgin.


2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 585-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Bordogna ◽  
Gian Primo Cella

This article begins with a quantitative analysis of post-World War II strike activity in a group of European countries and the United States. The analysis highlights two important changes. First, over the past two decades, and particularly during the 1990s, there was a significant decrease in strike activity in the countries surveyed (with the notable exception of Denmark). Secondly, there has been a strong trend towards the so-called tertiarisation of conflict. This raises major problems for the measurement, analysis and regulation of strike activity, the strength of tertiary conflicts being based not on the number of days lost or the number of strikers involved, but on the extent of harm caused to the users of services. The impact of tertiary conflict varies from one country to another, in line with the different national regulatory mechanisms, national institutions and national styles of industrial relations.


2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-79
Author(s):  
Gordon Thompson

Over the past 30 years, many universities in Canada and the United States have introduced tuition-waiver policies for older adults. This article reviews the literature describing the development and outcomes of these programs. Although several national surveys of tuition-waiver programs have been reported in the United States, none have previously been reported for Canadian universities. This article reports the results of the first such survey. Despite the widespread availability of tuition- waiver programs in Canada and the United States, it is clear that such programs have failed to attract significant numbers of older learners. The paper examines the causes and the implications of this failure.


2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Knox

This article explores personal, organisational and societal perspectives on creativity, arts, and adult education. Attention to creativity in the United States has increased during the past century. Fifty years ago, scholars and practitioners interested in the arts and sciences were focused on extraordinary creative achievements. Since then the scope of such interest has expanded from innovative and useful outcomes such as paintings and inventions, to include characteristics of very creative people, their ways of working, and various influences. The scope has also broadened from a few outstanding examples to increasingly include all people and their lifelong learning in a society in which change and learning have become widespread. This article demonstrates how creative adult education can help enhance the creativity of all people in all aspects of their life. I combine my parallel experience in art and adult education to explore the beneficiaries of art; characteristics of artists; venues where creative activity takes place; and how appreciation is shown for creative endeavours. I also use artistic metaphors and combine a review of trends regarding major writings about creativity, with personal reflections about future directions to strengthen attention to creativity in adult education.


Author(s):  
Bitna Kim ◽  
Jurg Gerber ◽  
Yeonghee Kim

Empirical research pertaining to sentencing of homicide offenders has been restricted almost exclusively to samples of male offenders in the United States. To fill this void in international research and to explore questions regarding the treatment of female homicide offenders further, we examined the extent to which victim–offender relationships and motives independently affect the length of sentences imposed by analyzing a nationally representative sample of female offenders adjudicated guilty of homicide in South Korea, over the period 1986-2013. In contrast to previous studies conducted in Canada, the Netherlands, and the United States, the current study found that the victim–offender relationship has no affect on sentence lengths. Rather, the most significant predictor for the sentence lengths of the female homicide offenders was the motive for killing. We discuss future directions for international comparative research on the roles of victim–offender relationships and motives in sentencing outcomes of female offenders.


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