Short Reads

The number of businesses owned by women and minorities has grown considerably in recent years, particularly in certain industries, but based on revenue they remain on average considerably smaller than white- or male-owned firms.

Legislative productivity may be on an upswing, as lawmakers enacted more bills before their August break than either of the two preceding Congresses.

Some 73% of online men use social media, on par with the 80% of online women who say they do so. But there are still some gender differences on specific platforms.

It’s a fascinating time for conversations about faith in the United States, with Pope Francis set to visit, a presidential election on the horizon and major trends reshaping the country’s religious landscape.

Ten years ago this weekend, Hurricane Katrina roared ashore on the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,000 people. From the start, the tragedy had a powerful racial component – images of poor, mostly black New Orleans residents stranded on rooftops and crowded amid fetid conditions in what was then the Louisiana Superdome.

Our "always-on" mobile connectivity is changing the nature of public spaces and social gatherings. It's also rewriting social norms of what is rude and what is acceptable behavior.

There is little support overall for an effort to deport all those in the U.S. illegally, but past surveys have found support for building a barrier along the Mexican border and for banning birthright citizenship.

Proposed new overtime rules would make nearly 5 million white-collar workers eligible for time-and-a-half – mostly retail and food service managers, office administrators, low-level financial workers and other modestly paid managers and office professionals.

The rise in frustration, especially this year, is largely concentrated among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents critical of their party.

It may seem as if basic or flip phones are a thing of the past, given that 73% of teens have a smartphone. But that still leaves 15% of teens who only have a basic cellphone and 12% who have none at all, and it makes a difference in the way each group communicates.