Personal Finance

Data show that a college education gives graduates enhanced job opportunities and income over the course of a lifetime — especially for those working in technical fields. But it is difficult to say whether a talented high school senior would necessarily earn more by graduating from an elite college than by graduating from a less selective one.

American public opinion is decidedly mixed regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to substantially uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in June 2012. While supporters of the ACA hope it will reduce health care costs and provide affordable options for the uninsured, it will not be until 2014 that much of the ACA goes into effect. Survey data strongly suggest that health care coverage and costs remain areas of deep worry across the population.

Studies have shown that inequality in the U.S. has been on the rise for decades, with the top earners enjoying astronomical gains and average Americans coping with stagnating incomes. These studies typically rely on annual income data, however, which may overstate inequality: low earners in one year may be high earners the next.

The U.S. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 prohibits bias against those 40 and older. Because the share of the aging population in the U.S. is expected to rise, the act’s role in maintaining and encouraging employment of older workers is likely to grow in importance.

How the United States government measures levels of poverty has changed little since the bureaucracy began making official estimates in the 1960s. Many observers have noted that the official statistical model has not kept up with the times: for example, it does not take fully into account rising medical costs, and it uses a multiplier of food costs as an index by which to set the official poverty income line for households. (Food costs have shrunk historically as part of the family budget.)