Lots of people dread filing their taxes, but here's what's worse: You go to file your taxes find out a criminal has already done it for you.

This week, Life Inc. looked at the surge in identity theft tax fraud, in which criminals take a person’s name and Social Security number and file a bogus return on their behalf. Then, they pocket the hefty fake refund the return generates.

The post prompted tons of outrage, especially from readers who said they’d gone through the painful process of being a victim of this type of fraud. For many readers, there was plenty of anger to go around.

 “These crooks aren't that smart, it's just that the government is pretty much incompetent at everything it does,” one reader wrote.

Being pregnant is hard work, but working while pregnant also appears to have its share of complications.

A post this week on the government’s stepped-up efforts to battle pregnancy discrimination prompted a lot of readers to share their stories of odd job interviews, suspiciously timed layoffs and other ways in which pregnancy and work didn’t mix well.

About six in 10 readers who took our poll said they had seen or experienced pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.

Some told us the fear of being treated differently was keeping them from having kids.

“I'm 28 and just married and avoiding pregnancy completely for at least 5 years because of likelihood of losing my job if I do,” one reader wrote.

But others argued that employers shouldn’t have to accommodate procreation.

“First of all getting pregnant is a choice with very few exceptions. As an employer I should not have to deal with your choice,” another reader wrote.

It’s probably true that some people call in sick because of pregnancy-related issues, but another post this week looked at a different reason for taking a sick day: boredom.

Researchers found that workers were much more likely to call in sick on a day when they had a light workload than when they had a normal amount of work to do. Some readers could relate.

“So true...I hate it when I'm bored at work...just hate it,” one reader wrote.



Buying a new car can be an unsettling experience no matter who you are, but it’s traditionally been all the tougher for women – who are often treated like second-class citizens, either more trouble than they’re worth or as easy marks to be easily taken advantage of.

“When I started looking for my last car, the first dealer I went to told me to come back when I could bring my husband with me.  He clearly didn’t think I was smart enough to do it myself,” recalls Alice Hissler, a single PhD scientist at a major Michigan university.

Hissler is by no means alone, and women are more likely than men to express frustration at the car buying experience.  But that’s beginning to change, driven by automakers, retail trade groups and women themselves who are using word-of-mouth and social media to get the word about which dealers to patronize and which to avoid.

Is same supplier behind Toyota, GM door fires?

 And they have the muscle to do it considering women now account for 51% of the cars purchased in the U.S. and influence 96% of sales, says Delia Passi, CEO and founder of WomenCertified and former publisher of Working Mother magazine.  WomenCertified has just published a new survey that looks at what dealers should do to satisfy women customers and identifies some of the best in the country from the distaff perspective.

“Car buying is often viewed as a male-dominated activity,” said Passi, adding that, “Our goal is to identify and reward the dealerships that meet and exceed women’s expectations for the car buying process and encourage the industry to better serve their needs.”

Tesla reveals new Model X crossover

The new study, she notes, was done in cooperation with the Wharton School of Business, and was specifically constructed to focus on what women car buyers were looking for when shopping for a new vehicle.  It not only looked at the car buying process but also the service experience, where women often find themselves facing the harshest treatment.

The best dealers, the survey found, show “a genuine concern for the customer,” and are likely to offer a “nuance of hospitality” in everything they do, stressed Passi.  They’re likely to listen as much as talk, and clearly understand the specific needs and desires of each individual consumer.

Images of updated Lexus RX leak out

They’re also likely to make the showroom and service bay friendly places to spend time, especially for women who might have children in tow.  Top-ranked dealers routinely offered such niceties as good coffee, places to relax and even play centers for children.  Some would even provide transportation service for a customer who might, said Passi, want to get a manicure or run errands while waiting for a car to be services.

“They put themselves in the shoes of a woman customer,” she suggested, adding that those dealers were also less likely to make a woman feel pressured.

What are the cheapest - and most expensive - cars to insure?

Passi contended that the best dealers are likely to be driven “top-down,” and often – but not always – have women in top management positions.  They almost always do have women employees at all levels in the dealership.

The survey identified a score of top, women-friendly dealers across the country.  “Car buying is often viewed as a male-dominated activity,” said Delia Passi, CEO and Founder of WomenCertified, and former publisher of Working Women and Working Mother magazines. “but women not only buy 51% of vehicles today, they also influence 96% of vehicle purchases for their families. Our goal is to identify and reward the dealerships that meet and exceed women’s expectations for the car buying process and encourage the industry to better serve their needs.” (For the complete list, Click Here.)

To be added to the list, she noted, required a strongly positive recommendation from at least nine of every 10 customers surveyed who had previously used that dealership.

Beyond the initial sale, Passi stressed that it simply makes good sense to ensure women shoppers are happy.  They’re more likely to not only come back for another car later on but also to return to the dealership for service and other needs.  According to the survey, 80% of respondents returned to the top-ranked dealerships, up from 60% for those who didn’t score as well.

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Big companies are also the big heavyweights when it comes to employment, according to new data released this week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

About 46 percent of Americans who work for a private company are employed by a firm with 500 or more employees, according to the most recent BLS data from March of 2011. That translates into approximately 50 million workers, the BLS said.

About 28 percent, or 30.4 million Americans, are working for a company with 49 employees or less, while about 26 percent, or 28.3 million, are working for a company with 50 to 499 employees.

The big employers also have seen the biggest growth in employment over the past two decades, according to the BLS.

As of March of 2011, the smallest companies by employee size were employing about 11 percent more people than in April of 1990, according to the data. Employment at the mid-sized firms is up 13 percent over that time period, while the largest employers have seen employment jump by 29 percent.

“The small size class is fairly flat whereas a lot of the growth is coming in the large firms,” said Nathan Clausen, an economist with the BLS.

Clausen said it doesn’t appear that growth in the bigger companies is coming from small companies getting bigger. Although that happens, he said, it’s also true that larger companies get smaller. That means they’re basically canceling each other out.

Still, he said government economists are just beginning to take a more detailed look at the data, to try to figure out what's behind these trends.

Already, they are finding some interesting things.

For example, Clausen said, in the early 1990s the leisure and hospitality industry was dominated by smaller employers. But in the mid-1990s, larger employers quickly began dominating that industry.

That makes sense to anyone who travels regularly and has seen larger hotel and other chains become much more prevalent.

Clausen said the economists also noticed that during the Internet bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000s, much of the employment growth came not from small employers but from large ones.

That may have been because the startups that got so much attention during that time were snapped up by big firms. Or it may have been because the small employers created a lot of business for the big ones by ordering their products and using their services.

Clausen noted that the data looked narrowly at jobs, so it’s not clear whether the startups were contributing more to the economy in other ways.

“Startups maybe were generating more income, but in terms of jobs … the jobs were being created not in the startups in the large companies,” he said.

Do you like the perks and advancement opportunities at big companies, or prefer the intimacy of a smaller employer? Share your thoughts on Facebook.

Related:

Where the (good) jobs are coming

Role reversal: Employers say they can't find workers

The Internal Revenue Service is grappling with a surge in identity theft-based tax fraud as crooks take advantage of web-based resources including electronic filing.

Identity theft cases, in which criminals obtain living or deceased people’s names and Social Security numbers to defraud the government, ranked No. 1 on an annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams the agency released Thursday. The IRS called ID theft one of the most complex threats it handles.

The IRS estimates 404,000 people were victimized by identity theft tax fraud from mid-2009 to the end of 2011. 

“We are seeing growth in this area. There’s no way around it,” said Terry Lemons, IRS director of communications. “But I also think that we’ve gotten better at detecting it.”

The IRS said it stopped nearly 262,000 fake returns based on identity theft from being processed in 2011, preventing nearly $1.5 billion in refunds from going to criminals. That is more than a fivefold increase from 2010, when the agency stopped about 49,000 fake returns seeking $247 million in fraudulent refunds.

The IRS said it has no way of knowing how much in fraudulent refunds made it through the system undetected.

Experts say this type of fraud has increased thanks in part to the Internet. The Web has made it easier for honest people to file their tax returns -- and for crooks to file fake returns electronically. The IRS has been on a major push to encourage people to file electronically.

“That was probably one of the biggest boons for the bad guys,” said Jay Foley, a partner with ID Theft Info Source and an identity theft expert.

With more than 100 million income tax refunds to process each year, the IRS concedes it will never be able to quell such tax fraud completely.

“The IRS cannot stop all identity theft. However, we are committed to continuing to improve our programs,” Steven T. Miller, the deputy commissioner for services and enforcement at the IRS, said in written congressional testimony in November.

The agency has added new filters to screen for potential identity theft tax fraud and is working harder to help victims get their rightful refunds.

In late January, the IRS and Justice Department announced a nationwide sweep of arrests, indictments and other actions against 105 suspected perpetrators of the crime in 23 states.

In its testimony to Congress, the IRS said it had initiated 276 investigations into identify theft tax fraud in fiscal 2011, up from 224 the previous year.

The IRS is under tremendous pressure to get taxpayers their refunds as quickly as possible while also accurately screening for fakes. That’s complex because people's lives are complicated. Many of the things that might flag a return as fraudulent -- such as a change in job, mailing address or name -- are legitimate.

The new IRS filters mean that more people’s tax refunds will get extra screening before they go out, Lemons said.

“I think for the vast majority of taxpayers, they’re not going to see any difference,” he said. “There will be some people who end up having some delays.”

ID theft tax fraud tends to occur early in the tax season as criminals try to file before legitimate taxpayers. (For tips on how to prevent and identify identity-based tax fraud, check the guide posted on the IRS website.)

Despite the agency's efforts, Foley, the identity theft expert, expects the problem to get worse before it gets better. That’s because criminals keep finding new ways to evade IRS systems.

Still, he thinks the IRS is doing the best it can given its limitations. People want their legitimate tax refunds as fast as possible, but if the IRS doesn’t catch the fraud before the refund goes out, the agency may not even realize fraud has occurred until long after, when the real taxpayer goes to file a return.

“You can’t fix something until you know something is broke,” he said.

The crime appears to have surged in popularity rapidly.

In Florida, NBC television affiliate WFLA and The Tampa Tribune reported identity theft tax fraud had became so widespread that some people were offering classes in how to commit the crime.

The station's investigation said the criminals dubbed the process “TurboTax” after the popular online software for filing returns.

Julie Miller, a spokeswoman for TurboTax’s parent company, Intuit, said in an email that the company had amped up its own fraud prevention efforts over the past year. She declined to give details for fear of tipping off criminals.

In many cases, the fraud begins when a criminal steals someone's name and Social Security number, and then uses them as a basis to create fake a return that ensures a hefty refund. The refund is sent to an address specified by the fraudster.

Another method involves getting the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of recently deceased people from websites such as Ancestry.com, which are meant to help people find their long-lost relatives.

A spokeswoman for Ancestry.com, Heather Erickson, said the company didn’t notice anything unusual. But around December, after being alerted to the problem, the website stopped showing Social Security numbers for anyone who had died in the past 10 years.

Related:

Cheat on taxes? Never! Or, as much as possible

See more coverage of this issue from Tampa Bay Online

IRS: Taxpayer guide to identity theft

Imagine an industry that came through the Great Recession relatively unscathed financially. Now imagine that industry fighting proposed legislation that would afford its workers the same federal rights to minimum wage and overtime pay the rest of us enjoy.

No imagination needed, because that’s what’s happening in the industry for the workers who take care of us when we are too old or too sick to care for ourselves. Workers who care for homebound Grandma and Grandpa only earn about $21,000 a year on average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the industry that provides some 1.8 million home health care aides to the country’s disabled and chronically ill population is fighting new legislation that would guarantee those workers the same federal labor rights afforded to all other workers by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Obama administration proposed legislation in December that would guarantee minimum wage and overtime coverage to home health care aides in the United States. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis pointed out that nearly 40 percent of them rely on public benefits like Medicaid and food stamps, and many lack health insurance coverage. Home health care aides are paid an average of $10 an hour, but many are not guaranteed overtime pay when they work for more than 40 hours a week, and they're also not paid for travel time between client visits. (The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.)

As first reported by USA Today, the home health care industry is fighting the proposal tooth and nail, claiming that a pledge of minimum wage and overtime pay would hurt caregivers because it would limit their hours and could send their charges to nursing homes and other institutions. Home Instead Senior Care, one of the largest providers of home health care aides, spent $362,000 fighting the White House proposal last year, according to USA Today.

Home Instead Senior Care said it isn't opposed to paying minimum wage for home health care workers.

"The issue is keeping overnight care affordable for seniors and their families," Home Instead chief executive Roger Baumgart said in an e-mail to msnbc.com. "If agencies are required to pay overtime wages for overnight stays, it will significantly increase the cost of providing care to seniors." He wrote that the added expense would cause Medicare and Medicaid spending to rise.

The White House proposal would overturn an exception to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act that was granted in 1974 to allow friends and family to offer in-home care without running afoul of federal wage and hour regulations. The Labor Department has said that home health care companies have used the exception as an excuse to lower salaries for nursing assistants and other aides.

"The exemption was never really intended to apply to businesses like home care agencies, and it wasn’t supposed to apply to workers who were doing these jobs as a vocation," said Steve Edelstein, national policy director of the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute.  "We just have to recognize that it’s a real job and pay for the services accordingly."

The majority of home health care aides don't even work a full 40 hours a week, said Edelstein, citing a recent PHI report that found that most of them work from 31 to 34 hours. That tends to defuse fears about costly overtime pay, he said.

In addition, he noted that the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the aging U.S. population will require more than 800,000 more home health care workers in the next decade.

The home health care industry has weathered the economic downturn of the past several years in good shape.

Privately owned home health care companies enjoyed a revenue increase of 12.8 percent over the past two years and net profit margins of about 8 percent, according to financial information company Sageworks. Publicly held health care services companies saw revenues rise by 2.5 percent over two years and net profit margins of 4 percent.

In other words, the industry as a whole isn't doing too badly. "If you look at home health care, it certainly did better than most industries that we see in our data," said Michael Lubansky, a senior financial analyst at Sageworks. "Most other industries saw sales percent declines [beteween 2006 and 2011], but if you were to just look at this data for home health care, you wouldn’t be able to tell there was a recession."

Medicare and Medicaid accounted for about 75 percent of home health care revenue as of 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. State budget cuts could make it difficult for Medicaid to cover higher salaries for home health care workers, according to USA Today.

In 2007, a case involving home health care aide Evelyn Coke, a single mother of five, was brought to the Supreme Court when she alleged that she was earning just $7 an hour without overtime benefits. Ms. Coke, who said she sometimes worked three consecutive 24-hour shifts, lost the case.

What do you think? Sound off on our Facebook page.

Thinking of a career as an investment banker? Get ready for insomnia, alcoholism, heart palpitations, eating disorders and a violent temper.

A University of Southern California researcher has found these health issues are part and parcel of the lives of entry-level investment bankers that she shadowed as they started their new careers fresh out of business school.

“When you work 120 hours a week, something snaps,” said Alexandra Michel, an assistant management professor at USC’s Marshall School of Business, who shadowed bankers for a decade to collect findings for the study.

“But the interesting finding is what exactly snaps,” she told CNBC. “It’s not technical accuracy; the bankers were quite precise in what they were doing. What snaps is creativity, judgment, and that’s really important in our new knowledge-based economy, because we now compete on innovations.”

Michel began shadowing Wall Street bankers for her study a decade ago, sitting next to them at the office, following them to meetings, basically mirroring their hours at the office and even staying up all night when the bankers pulled all-nighters.

She found that newly minted investment bankers can put up with long days at the office -- on average 80 to 120 hours a week -- and high levels of stress for about four years. After that, there are signs of long-term physical ailments, including insomnia, and substance addictions. Every banker she observed developed a stress-related physical or emotional injury within several years on the job, she said.

One bank vice president who struggled with addictions described his work life as a never-ending nightmare.

“I sometimes wake up in the morning and remember what I have done the day before and wished that it was just a bad dream and all I want is to keep it together for the day ahead and not allow my body to take over again,” the unnamed banker said.

Wall Street workers are likely putting in long hours now as the economy continues to struggle and the financial services industry contracts, said Dr. Alden Cass, a clinical psychologist in New York who specializes in treating Wall Street executives.

“People are working harder, longer and making less,” he said, and it’s leading to apathy and job burnout.

While people criticize Wall Street bankers for excessive pay, it’s an incredibly difficult and unpleasant job, said William D. Cohan, a former Wall Street investment banker and best-selling author of “Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World.”

“I used to say the job was good only one day a year -- the day when you got your bonus, and sometimes that day wasn’t that great,” said Cohan.

“You work too hard. You gain weight because you don’t get enough exercise, and you don’t get enough sleep,” he said. “It’s a surprisingly unpleasant job, but on the other hand you’re not putting your life on the line, and you’re not risking your own money. It’s an unpleasant lifestyle, unless you get to the top, and even there it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

The life of a junior investment banker is notoriously demanding, with long hours in a high-stress environment. The profession attracts ambitious business school graduates who are attracted by high salaries, and many of them know the grueling hours and stress  the job requires.

Michel notes that her research was qualitative, involving a small group of bankers and no control group. It’s designed to identify patterns that can later be examined through systematic empirical investigation, she said.

However, Michel says the study’s findings can be applied to other areas of the working world.

“We have a lot of people in our knowledge-based economy -- lawyers, doctors, engineers -- who work really hard, and also in more traditional industries that are now competing because of globalization and fast-paced technological change. These people are also pushed to work quite hard,” she said. “So the study asks what the consequences are for these industries, and also for companies and society as a whole.”

The consequence of the overwork is a diminishment of creativity, and that can have a detrimental effect on the economy as a whole, Michel said, citing technology powerhouse Apple as an example.

“They outsource everything that’s related to manufacturing, but what stays here [in the U.S.] are the creative aspects, so I think we need to listen to this,” she said.

Do you feel sympathy for investment bankers? Let us know on our Facebook page.

Brandon Christiansen had third-degree burns on both hands. In the year or so since the fireplace accident, he's had three skin grafts. A fourth operation is scheduled for next month.

 Shari Christiansen will never forget that cold October day when her 13-month old son Brandon started screaming. 

“It was the worst scream I’ve ever heard. It was just bloodcurdling,” Christiansen says. 

The toddler had scampered up to the gas fireplace in the family’s Spokane, Wash., home and touched the scalding hot glass.

"He was stuck, hands pressed up against the glass,” his mom remembers.  “And I just ran as fast as I could and I just grabbed him and peeled him off.” 

Brandon had third-degree burns on both hands. In the year or so since the accident, he’s had three skin grafts. A fourth operation is scheduled for next month. 

"It's horrible," Christiansen says."You never want to see your kid go through something like that."

It’s estimated that hundreds of kids in this country are seriously burned each year by the super-heated glass on gas fireplaces. That glass can reach 500 degrees or more. 

“These burns are devastating because they don’t heal well and they cause of lot of scars,” explains Dr. Mike Gittelman, an emergency room pediatrician at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. “They can be life-altering.” 

Toddlers are naturally attracted to flames. They move so quickly, parents can't always stop them in time. But the danger doesn't go away as soon as the fire is turned off. The glass stays extremely hot long after the flames are gone. 

Just a few weeks ago in Seattle, 9-month old Mackenzie Spellman burned himself on a gas fireplace that had been off for more than an hour. He was lucky; the blisters on all of his fingers will heal.

“You never think it’s going to happen to you,” says Erika Spellman. “And I know my husband and I are great parents and it happened to us. So you just have to be careful because these little guys are so fast.” 

Pediatrician Beth Ebel is director of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center in Seattle. She sees these burns all winter long. 

“It breaks our hearts,” she says. “We take care of child after child, those little burned palms.” 

At first glance, it would seem that these terrible accidents could be prevented with better supervision. Dr. Ebel cautions against blaming the parents who may be unaware of the danger. In fact, they may think the unit is safe because the fire is contained and not accessible to their child. 

“These burns occur in a split second,” she explains, “and no parent can watch an inquisitive toddler every instant.” 

Safety experts believe this is a design problem that must be addressed by the manufactures. 

Right now there are no federal regulations that require manufacturers to protect kids (or anyone else) from the hot fireplace glass.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has been asked to do that. But right now, the CPSC is allowing the industry to develop a fix. 

“We feel like they are on the right path,” says CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson. “And they can do it a lot faster than we could via the regulatory process.” 

The industry has proposed new safety standards that would require all new gas fireplaces to come with a barrier that keeps hands and fingers away from the hot glass. In most cases, this would be a screen of some kind that attaches to the frame around the glass. 

“We’re encouraged because we think we’ve come up with a really good physical barrier,” says Jack Goldman, president of the Hearth, Barbecue & Patio Association. “You will not get a burn from touching the screen, even though maybe an inch away is the glass that is hot.” 

If the standard is approved, installers would be required to attach the screen or other barrier that comes with the fireplace before they leave the house. These screens would not block the view of the flames, so the fireplace has the same ambiance – it’s just a lot safer. 

Two big companies already offer safety screens. A few years ago, Hearth and Home Technologies made safety screens standard of all of its gas fireplaces. 

“Our goal is not only to keep little hands safe, but to create consumer awareness around fireplace safety,” says company PR manager Matt Hareldson. “We strongly encourage other manufacturers to follow our lead in this effort.” 

Lennox

The Lennox Safety Guard was developed to settle a class action lawsuit.

The Lennox Safety Guard was developed to settle a class action lawsuit. It’s available for both new units and those already installed.  (Click here to order your free Safety Guard.)  

The consumer advocates I’ve spoken to prefer a barrier that’s part of the fireplace, so it does not need to be installed and cannot be removed. But they seem willing to watch and wait to see if the industry’s proposed fix works.

“We’ll need to see if these screens are being attached by the installer and if not, we’ll have to push for federal regulations,” says Rachel Weintraub, director of product safety at the Consumer Federation of America. 

If you already have a gas fireplace, burn prevention experts encourage you to buy a free-standing screen that goes in front of your fireplace. Most fireplace shops sell them for $100 or less. They’re not perfect, but they’re better than nothing. 

The Christiansen’s now have a barrier in front of their fireplace. Shari encourages other parents to realize the danger and guard against it. 

"I don't want to see another child go through what Brandon is going through. I want everybody to learn from this and protect their children."

More info:

Fireplace and Glass Stove Safety 

Consumer Reports: Dangers of Fireplace Glass

Updated at 1:45 p.m. ET Friday: An IRS spokeswoman said Friday that the problems with the Where's My Refund tool have been fixed and it is now working.

Original post:

The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday that its tool that lets people check on the status of their refunds is not currently working.

“We’re having some technical difficulties right now but expect to have this resolved soon. We apologize for the inconvenience,” the IRS said in statement posted to its website midday Wednesday.

An IRS spokeswoman told msnbc.com Wednesday that the agency is working hard to fix the problem but didn’t know exactly when it would be resolved.

However, she said the glitch only is affecting whether people can track their refunds. The refunds are still being processed normally.

This is the second time in a week the IRS has had problems with the Where’s My Refund tool. Last Friday, it posted a notice acknowledging that some taxpayers who filed electronically could not find their information on the Where’s My Refund tool. The spokeswoman said that issue has since been resolved. 

Tip of the hat to SFGate, which initially posted a story on the problem.

Are you waiting for your refund? Share your thoughts on Facebook. 

The number of pregnancy discrimination charges increased about 15 percent in the last 10 years to 5,797 last year.

It’s hard to imagine we still have to tell employers this today, but here goes: Pregnancy discrimination is illegal.

While it may sound obvious to some, blatant pregnancy bias is still alive and well in the workplace. A pregnant woman who applied for a job at a Subway franchise in Phoenix was told by a manager “we can’t hire you because you’re pregnant.” Last month, she won punitive damages against the employer.

It’s just one example of the types of flagrant pregnancy discrimination that the federal government is trying to stop.

“A few employers have forgotten, or never learned, that it’s against the law to discriminate against women because of pregnancy,” David Lopez, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's general counsel, said during a public meeting before the EEOC commissioners Wednesday.

It’s unlawful, he stressed, to deprive a pregnant woman "the opportunity to sustain herself or her family based on stereotypical assumptions” that she won’t be as dedicated to her employers as a man or a woman who isn't pregnant.

The number of pregnancy discrimination charges increased about 15 percent in the last 10 years to 5,797 last year. That's down slightly from 2010's total claims of 6,119, according to the EEOC.

While the EEOC is doing outreach to employers so they understand the law, the agency is also using the big-stick approach.

The EEOC has increased the number of cases it has filed against employers when it comes to pregnancy bias, Lopez said, reaching 20 cases last year, inching up from 19 in 2010.

He pointed to a $1.64 million settlement reached with Akal Security Inc., the largest provider of contract security services to the federal government, in 2010. The agency claimed Akal had a national policy “of forcing its pregnant employees, working as contract security guards on U.S. Army bases, to take leave and discharging them because of pregnancy.”

Such conduct, the agency maintained, violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which prohibits gender discrimination in employment, including pregnancy discrimination.

This type of bias can hit low-wage workingwomen the hardest, said Sharon Terman, senior staff attorney in the gender equity program at The Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center, who spoke at the EEOC event.

“We’ve heard from many women who were fired immediately upon announcing their pregnancy and whose employers explicitly told them the pregnancy was the reason,” she explained.

Low-income women who become pregnant, she continued, are routinely denied minor workplace accommodations that would help them continue working. A common example of accommodations would be allowing a worker to sit on a stool instead of standing all day, or letting her carry a water bottle.

She offered one case of a pregnant janitor who was fired via text message by her boss after she told him her obstetrician was late for her appointment.

Many poorer workers also don’t have paid sick days, she pointed out. The United States is one of the only industrialized nations that does not mandate paid sick days for employees. While some states have passed laws requiring some paid sick time, the majority of workers nationally are not covered by such legislation.

Although many employers have anti-discrimination policies, it still occurs. Employment attorney Sara Begley said, “Unenlightened managers who are simply focused on getting the job done may violate a pregnant employee's protected rights by taking adverse action for taking maternity leave, not provide salary increases or bonuses to employees on leave, assume an employee will not return post leave and transfer her duties to another employee, assume an employee will be on Mommy Track post maternity leave."

Such outdated assumptions, she added, “can and must be remedied by training and enforcement of applicable policies."

The biggest “knowledge gap” when it comes to the law, she added, appears to be with smaller firms who just don’t have adequate training.  

While reaching out and educating employers is important, said EEOC Commissioner Stuart Ishimaru, he shared his frustration that so little has changed in the 35 years since the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed.

“Why have we missed the boat?” he asked the panelists assembled at the hearing. Why, he added, does pregnancy bias persist? “It’s a puzzle to me.”

Judy Lichtman, senior advisor to the National Partnership for Women and Families, who spoke at the hearing, said it was all about long-standing stereotypes, and not just regarding pregnancy but for caregiving too. Our society doesn’t value people with family responsibilities, she said. “What are our real obligations to change an engrained paradigm?” 

The National Gun Victims Action Council began a boycott of Starbucks Monday over the coffee giant's policy of allowing customers to bring guns into their shops in states with "open carry" laws. CNBC's Melissa Lee discusses the protest with the head of the NGAC.

Discuss this issue on Facebook.

Collin Morgan, the coupon-savvy mom behind Hip2Save.com, joined us for a live Web chat Wednesday to answer your questions.

Here’s one of her answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A.)

A chat guest asked:

“How do you not get embarrassed when you go into a store with your binder? I know I should be proud that I'm saving money, but the looks and stares I get when I pull my binder out are almost enough to make me want to walk out of the store.”

Collin replied:

“I have learned that it really is HIP 2Save... so I am actually not embarrassed at all. I have found that the stares I get in the store are not so much about them looking at me like I'm a crazy nut, but more that they are curious about what I'm doing... and want to learn how to do it to! My binder has sparked so many great conversations with other shoppers... I LOVE it! :)”

Here’s the full chat archive:

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The simplicity of the Sony A390 makes it a good choice for an amateur photographer graduating from a point-and-shoot camera.

By Kara Reinhardt, Cheapism.com

Kodak announced last week that it will exit the camera business after more than 100 years. The company produced the first professional digital camera more than two decades ago, pairing a single-lens-reflex camera body with a digital sensor. The result cost as much as a new car. Modern digital SLRs, once beyond the reach of amateurs, can now be had for less than $500. They may not bear the name Kodak, but they’re available from highly regarded brands including Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Sony.

A DSLR (or digital single-lens-reflex) camera uses a mirror to let you look through the lens when composing an image, so what you see in the viewfinder is exactly what you get. These cameras are hefty compared with point-and-shoot models that fit into a pocket or purse. They typically come with a basic zoom lens but can accommodate a range of interchangeable wide-angle and telephoto lenses.

Camera manufacturers always brag about megapixels -- the more the better, right? Well, yes, high resolution does let you print large, sharp photos with crisp detail. However, digital SLR cameras typically come with at least 10 megapixels, which should be plenty for any basic photo task. Crowding too many megapixels onto a camera’s image sensor can actually compromise photo quality, and the sensors on budget DSLRs are smaller than those on pricier full-frame DSLRs and traditional 35 mm film cameras. There are two different types of image sensors: CCD and CMOS. CCD sensors tend to cost more and yield better photos, but CMOS technology is catching up in terms of quality. Camera makers often use CMOS sensors in budget DSLRs to keep costs down, but CCD sensors are also available at this price.

Image stabilization helps keep photos from turning out blurry when you shoot in low light without a flash, which requires a slow shutter speed and a perfectly steady hand. Pay attention to whether this feature is built into the lens or into the camera itself, in which case it will always be there no matter what lens you use. Depending on the brand, you may have to pay a bit more for lenses with image stabilization. Live view mode lets you frame up a shot on an LCD screen on the back of the camera rather than looking through the viewfinder -- a process familiar to consumers who are used to point-and-shoot cameras.

Below are Cheapism’s top picks for affordable DSLR cameras.

• The Canon EOS Rebel T3 (starting at $433) delivers unbeatable image quality for its price, according to expert and consumer reviews. It has a CMOS image sensor, 12.2 mp resolution, and live view. Image stabilization is built into the lens. (Where to buy)
• The Sony A390 (starting at $420) impresses with a CCD image sensor, 14.2 mp resolution, live view, and internal image stabilization. Experts and users note that it’s easy to operate, and thus an appealing choice for photography enthusiasts making the jump to a DSLR from a point-and-shoot. (Where to buy)
• The Nikon D3000 (starting at $450) is a solid budget offering from a brand with an excellent reputation, reviewers say. Although this 10.2 mp camera lacks live view and internal image stabilization, it captures sharp photos with a CCD image sensor. (Where to buy)

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As the rebound in the U.S. economy helps boost income and spending among working-aged households, older Americans relying on retirement income are having a hard time paying the bills.

Despite steady belt-tightening as they age, retirees' incomes just aren't keeping up, according to a review of the latest data by the Employee Benefits Research Institute. On average, retired households spend about 80 percent of what working households spend, but their earnings are only 57 percent of what working households take home.
 
Not surprisingly, retired Americans spend a rising portion of their income on medical expenses as they get older. Health care cost consume roughly 13 percent of spending by those 65 and older -- more than double the 5.3 percent of spending for those 45 to 54 and just 4.0 percent for those under 25, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That rises to about 20 percent of total spending for those ages 85 and over, according to the EBRI.

With government health care spending soaring, Congress is wrestling with various proposals to contain costs. That doesn't bode well for retirees who already face higher health care bills than younger households. 

Failing health consumes more of their income, but it also limits activity for older Americans. If you get sick, your doctor bills go up. It also means you can’t spend $5,000 to go on a cruise. That explains much of the decline in their spending, according to the EBRI. (Spending is higher among households with long-term care insurance, who have more money available.)

As of 2010, the annual median household income for working families was $53,548, some 76 percent higher than the $30,480 median income for retirees over 50, according to the EBRI. Though retirees spent 21 percent less than working families, those cutbacks weren't quite enough to make ends meet. Some demographic groups, including singles, blacks, and high school dropouts, are "outspending their resources in retirement," according to the researchers.  

The ongoing squeeze on retirees spending hasn't gone unnoticed by younger Americans. Roughly two-thirds told a recent Gallup survey that a lack of adequate retirement savings was their premier financial concern (that's up from 53 percent in 2001). Lack of adequate retirement savings topped other financial worries, including paying for medical costs for a serious illness, saving enough for college or being able to pay the rent or credit card bills.

Those fears are warranted, according to a separate study by EBRI. The group's latest assessment of American's retirement planning, the Retirement Readiness Rating, found that nearly one-half, 47.2 percent, of younger baby boomers are at risk of not having enough savings to pay basic retirement expenses' and uninsured health care costs. The percent at risk drops to 43.7 percent among older boomers, but then increases slightly to 44.5 percent for Generation X.

For those who are actively saving, average balances have been improving since the stock market collapse in 2008. But those accounts are still considered far short of what's needed to provide for a secure retirement without big cuts in spending.

Discuss this story on Facebook.

The Toyota Sienna may not be as fun as an Audi sports car, but at least you're saving a bundle on car insurance.

Many of us may secretly dream we are zipping down the highway in an Audi or Mercedes sports car when what we're really doing is riding along in a minivan or a family SUV.

Well, at least we’re saving a lot on car insurance.

The website Insure.com just released its annual ranking of highest and lowest insurance rates by vehicle. Two Toyota Sienna models topped this year’s list as cheapest to insure, with an average annual insurance rate of $1,111 and $1,114.

The minivan was followed by two Jeep models, the Patriot Sport and Compass Sport. The rest of the 20 least expensive vehicles to insure heavily favored family-oriented crossover SUVs, minivans and trucks.

The most expensive cars to insure would also be a lot more expensive to buy, but probably a lot more fun to drive. The Audi R8 Spyder Quattro Convertible ($210,000) and Mercedes CL600 ($159,000) topped that list, with annual insurance rates that are around three times higher than the Sienna. Of course, if you have to ask how much they cost to insure, you probably can't afford them.

Insure.com’s annual ranking of highest and lowest insurance rates is based on average premiums for a 40-year-old single male who commutes 12 miles to work. The website, which looked at more than 900 vehicles from the 2012 model year, relies on Quadrant Information Services to collect average rates for six insurance carriers in 10 ZIP codes per state.

The minivan’s top ranking was no fluke.

In 2011, the Chrysler Town & Country LX had the lowest rate, with an average annual premium of $1,091.80.

Here are the least and most expensive vehicles to insure for the 2012 model year, along with the average annual premium for Insure.com’s sample customer. The full list is available on Insure.com's website.

Least expensive:

1. Toyota Sienna LE  $1,111
2. Toyota Sienna $1,114
3. Jeep Patriot Sport $1,116
4. Jeep Compass Sport $1,118
5. GMC Sierra K1500 Regular Cab $1,121

 Most expensive:

1. Audi R8 Spyder Quattro Convertible $3,384
2. Mercedes CL600 Coupe $3,307
3. Mercedes S600 $2,948
4. Audi R8 4.2 Quattro Coupe$2,903
5. Porsche Panamera Turbo $2,738

Kim Carney/msnbc.com

Kiss your Valentine all you want - but wait until after work, experts say.

Everyone has a story about an uncomfortable workplace encounter on Valentine’s Day.

Whether it’s the co-worker who was showered with flowers and teddy bears all day long or the one who was noticeably snubbed, the mixture of work and romance often boils down to one word: Awkward.

“Valentine’s Day, as with most holidays, brings on a lot of stress for people, not only inside of work but outside of work,” said Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and author of “Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant.”

That’s one reason she’s not much of a fan of big Valentine’s Day bouquets being sent to the office or other romantic gestures during the workday.

“This is the workplace, and Cupid doesn’t belong on the org chart,” she said.

To avoid making your romantic partner the target of office gossip and speculation, Taylor recommends giving him or her that bouquet at the end of the day, rather than sending it to the office.

And if you’re going on a special Valentine’s Day date after work, she suggests meeting in the office parking lot rather than at your office, so you don’t have any risk of uncomfortable public displays of affection in front of the boss.

Others say Valentine's Day gifts at work are OK - in moderation.

Diane Gottsman, a national etiquette expert and owner of the Protocol School of Texas, said a modest bouquet of flowers sent to the office is fine. But an over-the-top gesture such as a huge bouquet or multiple deliveries is out of line for the workday. That’s because it can draw too much attention to your personal life.

In a recent survey of its users, employer ratings site Glassdoor.com found that about one-quarter of respondents said they would want to receive flowers at work from their significant other. The next popular Valentine’s Day item to get at work was chocolate.

Only 1 percent said they wanted to get a singing telegram at work on Valentine’s day.

Gottsman also isn’t a fan of singing telegrams. She adds: “No strippers.”

Valentine’s Day also can be especially awkward if you are dating one of your co-workers. A survey released last week by CareerBuilder.com found that nearly four in 10 workers have dated a co-worker, and one-third of those office romances led to marriage.

If you’re involved with a co-worker, Gottsman said it’s especially important to make sure you separate your workplace duties from your romantic life. That may even mean having a conversation beforehand asking your significant other not to make a big deal of the holiday at work.

“If you want to maintain this mystique - this professional persona - and you don’t want people involved in your life, you have to let your partner know that,” she said.

Have you experienced office awkwardness on Valentine’s Day? Tell us your story in the comments below, or continue the discussion on our Facebook page.

The makers of Floppets knew they had a hit on their hands when they sold out of product at a toy show.

By Jessica Naziri, CNBC

Kids are collecting machines. Give them something cute, fun and — most importantly — cheap, and they will use every cent of allowance and every begging tactic in the book to own the whole collection.

Reading teacher and mother of three Ilyse Brainin probably knows the formula better than most. She came up with her own twist on the collection craze with Floppets, flexible little animal characters attached to a Velcro strap.

She started with a cast of 36 characters, each with their own story that kids can read via the Floppets website.

Floppets retail for $2 each on Amazon and some specialty retail stores. They will be unveiled to major retailers (Floppert are also carried in some specialty store) at the 2012 Toy Fair next week in New York City. We spoke with founder Brainin to find out how she, with some help from husband Richard Goodwin, got Floppets off the ground.

CNBC: Can anybody be an entrepreneur?

Where did the idea come from?
I have three children and I have been teaching for over 20 years. I saw that kids love little pet characters and they always wanted to take their pet friends with them. I noticed that flip-flops and backpacks would be a great way for kids to display their pets. Then I realized the kids could use the Velcro straps to hook the Floppets together, so kids can wear them as bracelets and necklaces.

Where did the funding first come from?
To get the funding to prototype the product and design the first characters, I put together my savings and some of my prized items like jewelry and sold them (she started with $10,000). It soon became apparent that a larger sum was needed to manufacture, set-up a website and create the 200 characters that I envisioned. Friends, as well as people I worked with in the community and at schools were helpful. I got to know some of the parents and they became some of our private angel investors.

Who was your first customer?
The first customer, aside from friends and family was the Children’s Discovery Museum (in Chicago). They placed an order for nearly 300 Floppets. It was a very exciting and vindicating moment for us. It has been catching fire since. It is an easy product to sell because when you see it you know what it is, and the price point is right there.

CNBC: Jason Wu targets new customers

When did you know the company would be a success?
We knew the company would be a success when we had a booth at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair [which is open to the public] and sold a Floppet every 60 seconds for two days straight. Kids and parents could not resist a cute and cool character that they can wear for $2.

What’s next?
We are looking to bring Floppets to an online world called Floptopia, which will feature interactive apps that are both fun and educational, and a web-series cartoon of our characters. Since the Floppets concept is so universal in appeal we are signing on licenses from a couple of movies, high profile web-series, and entertainment properties such as Star Trek to tap into the pop-culture collectors’ market.

CNBC: His and hers Valentine's gifts    
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Follow Jessica Naziri on Twitter @jessicanaziri

We hate meetings. Or maybe I should say, we love to hate meetings. Our Life Inc. post on how meetings can make you stupid was the most popular story of the week, read by more than 150,000 people and generating hundreds of comments, shares and retweets.

Anyone who has ever worked in an office has a story about useless meetings, and many of you were more than happy to share some of yours. A Newsvine user who goes by the handle NFIL offered up a colleague who "schedules meetings basically to justify his existence."

"Sometimes he invites himself into meetings and -- even better -- expensive business dinners he has nothing to do with. He was recently promoted. I'm preparing to leave."

Reader Marv Leit reminded us of the classic John Cleese video "Meetings Bloody Meetings." (Item One on the agenda: the agenda.)

Cleese, formerly of Monty Python fame, now makes a healthy living selling his video and self-help course on how to make meetings shorter and more productive. A two-minute trailer of the video is available on YouTube.

We also got lots of comments about a Pew study that found young people are having a tough time cracking today's tough job market but remain optimistic. In a possibly related development, young people today seem to be staying in the nest longer and getting more financial help from Mom and Dad, well into their 20s.

Perhaps inevitably, this opened a wide-ranging debate on everything from the nanny state to illegal immigration. Alohaman at least offered some useful advice to parents wondering how to get their grown children to move out of the basement: Don't charge them rent.

"Then I'd say: When you reach $5,000 in your bank account, you are outta here, on your own. ... I don't want your rent $, kid -- I want you outta here!"

Now if you will excuse me, I have a meeting to attend.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and join the discussion on Facebook!

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

When it comes to churning out young workers with college degrees in math and science, the United States lags well behind other advanced democracies, ranking just behind Turkey and Spain, according to a new analysis.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development analyzed education rates in its member countries and found that the U.S. is below average in the relative number of 25- to 34-year-old workers who have a degree in so-called STEM fields such as science, engineering, computing and statistics.

That’s a potential problem because research has shown that innovation in any economy depends on how many workers have such degrees, said Ronald Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute.

“It is something that we should be concerned about,” Ehrenberg said

There are about 1,472 math and science grads for every 100,000 employed 25- to 34-year-olds in the United States, according to the data. The compares to more than 3,555 in Korea, which leads the chart, according to the OECD figures based on 2009 data.

The United States falls between Spain and Iceland on the chart, and is noticeably lower than the OECD average. The figures do not reflect how many people with STEM degrees are actually employed in their field or using the skills they learned.

Jobs available for graduates with degrees in math, science and engineering tend to pay well, said Anthony Carnevale, director of Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce. But there are plenty of ways in which American culture dissuades its most promising kids from going into those fields.

For starters, many young Americans believe they can make more money with a degree in a business, finance or a related field, Carnevale said. Americans also seem to place more value on jobs in those fields.

“(If you’re) a smart high school kid, doing well, your image of what you want to do is not to wear a white smock every day and sit on a stool with a beaker,” Carnevale said. “You’re in a culture that drives you toward more convivial and more social kinds of work, and it pays better.”

Young Americans may also not be getting enough exposure to math and science, said Cornell’s Ehrenberg.

At the K-12 level, he said, it can be tough to recruit great math and science teachers because college graduates who specialize in those areas can probably find better-paying work outside teaching.

In addition, some students may have a hard time finding the right role models in college math and science departments, said Ehrenberg, who noted that many science and math faculties are dominated by white and Asian men.

Ehrenberg said many colleges and universities have tried to recruit faculty from more diverse backgrounds and to develop more family-friendly policies to retain women and non-traditional students in the fields.

“I think role models do matter,” Ehrenberg said.

For now, at least, Carnevale said many companies are simply poaching talented young science and math graduates from other countries. But as those countries ramp up their own businesses, that may be tougher to do.

Still, he said it also may be hard to fight the biases that have come to value lucrative non-scientific fields such as finance and law.

“A labor market is a social institution as well as an economic one,” he said.

Related:

The majors with the best job prospects

Where the (good) jobs are coming

Costco deilvers on customer satisfaction. Although you have to buy it in bulk and may require a forklift and Escalade to take it home.

When it comes to pleasing customers, Costco does a better job than any other major retailer in the country. 

At least that is the conclusion from an extensive survey conducted by Consumer Reports. 

"People like a lot of things about Costco,” says senior editor Mandy Walker. "They were extremely happy with the quality of the things they bought there and the price they paid.” 

For hourly employees, the calculations come almost instantly. How much did that 20-minute traffic jam cost me? What about the 15-minute wait at the coffee shop? When you’re used to being paid by the hour, it's all too easy to equate these time expenditures into dollars lost.

However, new research out of the University of Toronto has shown that such attitudes are detrimental to a person’s happiness. Making a direct correlation between time and money can make people impatient and hurt one’s ability to find joy in leisure activities.

“It prompts a mindset of maximizing the economic value of your time,” study author Sanford DeVoe wrote in an e-mail. “Consequently, when this goal is obstructed, you feel your time is being unprofitably wasted causing you to feel more impatient.”

According to DeVoe, thinking about time in terms of money can actually change an individual’s perception of time. Call it Einstein’s theory of relativity for the busy-headed. The study will be published in the next issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

In the three-part study, DeVoe and PhD student Julian House of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management prompted a sub-group of participants to think about time in terms of money through a series of survey questions. During the unpaid leisure activities during the first two trials, this group subsequently showed increased impatience and greater dissatisfaction. However, in the third trial, when each group was explicitly told it was being paid for a leisure activity (in this case, listening to music), the experimental group reported enjoying the music more than the control group.

The results appear to show a correlation between enjoyment of leisure time among those who think of time as money. This association can be positive, when it’s known that money is being earned. 

“This is evidence that the time-money association can be positive if it is felt that the time is economic profitable,” Devoe wrote. “You can think of the analogue of a lawyer billing their time on a plane while watching a movie or an hourly paid assistant attending a concert on the clock—they are freed up to enjoy it knowing that this time is economically profitable.”

“By contrast, the same activities where they are off the clock might be less enjoyable if they are thinking about the economic value of their time,” Devoe added.

With the increase on hourly jobs over the past several decades, DeVoe believes it’s important to understand the effects these hourly jobs have on the psyches of the employees. In 2009, 72.6 million American workers age 16 and over were paid at hourly rates, representing 58.3 percent of all wage and salary workers, according to the United States’ Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“The advice that comes out of these studies is that you want to be aware that putting a price on time can have these effects,” Devoe wrote. “It can help you make good decision about your time at work, but when you’re thinking about when you’re off the clock it’s going to get in the way of you being able to full enjoy your leisure time.”

Something to think about the next time you stare impatiently at your watch in traffic.  

Do you live by the "time is money" maxim? Are there benefits to that idea, or does it only stress you out? 

Related:

• Distraction reduces pain, study finds
• Moving in synch makes people think alike
• How to spot a liar in 20 seconds flat

The economic funk of the past four years has made it tough for younger workers trying to grow up and get a good job. Lucky for them, a growing number of their parents don't really expect their 20-something children to be financially self-sufficient.

A study being released Thursday found that only 67 percent of parents expect their children to be independent by age 22 or younger, compared with 80 percent in a similar survey conducted two decades ago.

The shift appears to be at least partly a reaction to the difficult economic environment, according to the Pew Research Center study.

“These accommodations to a tough economy appear to have contributed to a broader change in social norms about when adulthood begins,” the report stated.

The report on younger workers and the economy also found that despite high unemployment, workers under 25 are optimistic about their future prospects and their ability to make ends meet. Perhaps that is related to the generous support many of them still enjoy from their parents.

“While young people are less likely now than they were before the recession to say they currently have enough income, their level of optimism is undiminished from where it was in 2004,” according to the Pew report.

Among the study's other findings:

• Nine out of 10 young employed adults said they don’t earn enough money to lead the kind of life they want but believe they’ll earn enough in the future.
• Among young adults who are not working and say they don’t currently have enough income, 75 percent are confident they will have enough income in the future (18 percent believe they won’t).

It’s a lot of positive thinking for a group that has had sustained double-digit unemployment. At the end of last year the jobless rate among  workers aged 18 to 24 was 16.3 percent, compared to 8.8 percent for all adults under 64.

“The gap in the unemployment rate between 18- to 24-year-olds and all working-age adults is the widest in recorded history,” the Pew study said.

The numbers would be even worse if more young workers were in the labor market. The labor force participation rate among the under 25-crowd has been on the decline for years, as a growing number of younger workers have opted to focus on school. The rate continued its decline last year, dipping to about 65 percent, compared with 69 percent in 2007.

Gen Yers are making less money too. Pew reviewed government data and found “young adults employed full time have experienced a greater drop in weekly earnings (down 6 percent) than any other age group over the past five years.”

In the face of such economic realities, actions by Gen Yers may speak more loudly than their optimistic words.

The survey found that about half have taken jobs they didn’t want just to pay the bills; and 24 percent said they took unpaid work to gain experience. More than a third said the tough job market forced them to go back to school.

Their personal lives have also been hit: 31 percent said they’ve postponed marriage and 20 percent have put off the nuptials altogether because of the dismal jobs picture. And 22 percent are opting to wait for better times before having babies.

The Pew study was based in part on a nationwide survey of more than 2,000 adults.

The Simmons Beautyrest line includes some budget models.

By Kara Reinhardt, Cheapism.com

Could an old mattress be responsible for a lackluster love life? A recent survey found that almost a quarter of respondents with a mattress more than 10 years old report less romance in their lives — and most blame the mattress. Turns out this research was conducted on behalf of Sleepy’s, the mattress retailer, so the suggestion that a new mattress might be in order comes as no surprise.

Still, with Valentine’s Day less than a week away, this kind of thing can get you thinking. A new mattress is undoubtedly a major purchase. The price of even a traditional innerspring mattress can top $5,000, and experts warn that the very cheapest off-brand mattresses aren’t worth it. However, the big three  — Sealy, Serta, and Simmons — offer well-regarded queen-size mattress and box spring sets for less than $600. That amounts to mere pennies a night if the mattress lasts even five years. This is also one of those categories where sales seem constant and almost no one pays full price. Although a box spring isn’t always necessary, the warranty may stipulate that the mattress be used with the appropriate component. 

It may seem strange to lie down for a nap in the middle of a store, but it’s important to test different mattresses for comfort. Even on the low end, the various fiber, foam, and coil combinations present a wide range of options. These all have different names depending on the manufacturer, the retailer, and even the geographic region, which makes comparison shopping a challenge.

In general, look for more layers of padding if you enjoy a soft mattress or sleep on your side and fewer if you sleep on your back and like your bed to be firm. Pay attention to the quality of the materials that make up those layers; the padding on some inexpensive mattresses is apt to deteriorate. Finally, don’t worry too much about the number of coils — 375 is plenty for a queen-size mattress, according to GoodBed. What matters more is the construction and positioning of the coils.

Below are Cheapism’s top picks for affordable mattresses.

• The Serta Perfect Sleeper series (starting at $560) is lauded for being firm yet comfortable, and the mattresses are covered under warranty for up to 10 years. The design was developed in partnership with the National Sleep Foundation. (Where to buy)
• The Simmons Beautyrest series (starting at $477) earns praise from users for offering a range of firmness levels. Mattresses come with a 10-year warranty and a whopping 800 pocketed coil springs, which are intended to isolate movement and keep people from disturbing their partners. (Where to buy)
• The Sealy Posturepedic series (starting at $391) is designed to support the back and relieve pressure on the shoulders and hips. The Sealy brand rated highest in a survey of customer satisfaction and offers a 10-year warranty. (Where to buy)

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Wondering where your tax refund is? Now, there's an app for that.

It seems there’s an app for everything these days, including checking the status of your income tax refund.

The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday that it had updated its smartphone app, IRS2Go that lets you check whether your tax refund has come in yet.

The app also lets you sign up to get tax tips and quickly find out who to call if you have questions. It's free and available for Android and iPhones.

About 300,000 people have downloaded the app since the first version was launched last year, according to the IRS.

It’s not the only way the IRS is trying to keep up with those tech-savvy kids these days. If you’re so inclined, you can also follow the IRS on Twitter and get IRS tax tips on YouTube. They’re also strongly encouraging people to file their taxes online.

Would you use your smartphone to check the status of your tax refund?