Family Leave Proposal

Penna Dexter Family leave that allows mothers to take time off work when a baby is born is a time-honored policy in America. More recently, Dads have been receiving leave too. But traditionally, it’s either unpaid or paid by a person’s employer as a benefit. Some companies offer very generous paid family leave. Sometimes employees save up vacation or other…

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Transgender Teen Study

Penna Dexter A Brown University researcher has published a study that attempts to answer the question: ‘Why are so many teenage girls showing up at gender clinics?’ There are signs a sort of social contagion may be at work. Lisa Littman, an OB-GYN and behavior and social sciences professor at Brown University, authored the study. She facilitated detailed questioning of…

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Launch Plan

Penna Dexter Healthy retirement planning is about more than just saving and investing well. It also involves seeing that your children acquire some skills in handling money. It’s important to define and communicate boundaries regarding how much you’ll help them so they don’t become a financial drain on your nest egg.  “Some parents are reluctant to think about letting go,”…

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Chelsea’s Terrible Argument

Penna Dexter Chelsea Clinton gives legal abortion credit for boosting the American economy. Speaking at a Planned Parenthood-sponsored rally opposing the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, she attempted to help her audience of abortion activists add financial persuasion to their arsenal of arguments for abortion rights. Ms. Clinton stated, “American women entering the labor force from…

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Missing Workers

Penna Dexter Two recent news stories converge to demonstrate how a fully functioning, vibrant economy depends upon a culture of life. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that job openings in the US climbed to 6.7 million in the three months ended in June, the highest level since 2001. The number of unfilled jobs is growing in nearly every industry. The Journal explains…

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Birth Dearth

Penna Dexter US citizens are having fewer babies these days. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of babies born last year in the US was down 2 percent from the previous year and has hit a 30-year low. The US birth rate dropped to…

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Embracing Parenthood

Penna Dexter The birth rate in the US has hit an all-time low. Replacement-level fertility requires an average of 2.1 children per woman. Ours is roughly 1.76. Fewer women are having children. And the ones who do are having fewer of them. A Pew Research survey done in June reveals that Americans like the idea of larger families. According to…

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Middle Child Extinction

Penna Dexter If you are a middle child — or a parent of one of more middles — you are becoming increasingly rare. Every child born after the first and before the last is technically a middle. In an article in New York Magazine, culture editor Adam Sterrnbergh makes the startling revelation that the American Middle Child is now an endangered…

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ACLU Shift

Penna Dexter Prominent abortion-rights advocate, Cecille Richards, recently stepped down from the helm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Having served as the organization’s president for 12 years, she’s now pouring herself into electoral politics, especially the midterm elections. Ms. Richards solidified Planned Parenthood’s role as a political powerhouse. This year Planned Parenthood’s political action sub-groups are conducting their biggest-ever…

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We Need Marriage

Penna Dexter Remember the PBS television show Barney and Friends?  It premiered in 1992 and ceased production in 2009. The title character Barney was a purple tyrannosaurus rex who conveyed optimistic and educational messages through songs and little dance routines. The show was popular during an era when it was not politically correct to elevate the nuclear family — a mom,…

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Pentagon’s Transgender Policy

Penna Dexter There’s a welcome shift away from the social engineering in the military that drains readiness programs. The US Army released an official memo stating that “Transgender training is complete across the total Army.” For two years, the Army has been conducting mandatory transgender integration training at Army bases across the country. Two Obama-era directives necessitated this. One changed…

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