Workers who lack paid sick leave are more likely to come to work sick, send their children to school while sick, recover more slowly from illnesses, and rely on expensive visits to emergency rooms than are workers with sick leave.
In an update to our 2004 report, Opportunity Lost: When Hard Work Isn't Enough for Colorado's Families, the Bell's 2010 study finds working poor and low-income families now fare worse on many of the same indicators examined in the previous report.
What is opportunity? How is it generated and sustained in the 21st century? In this 2005 iteration of "Colorado: The State of Opportunity," the Bell seeks to answer these questions and more.
The Bell Policy Center first introduced the Cycle of Opportunity concept in 2002 to illustrate how we believe opportunity is created and sustained in the 21st century.
In the first edition of "Colorado: The State of Opportunity," we introduce the Cycle of Opportunity and show how, for most Americans, success requires a series of steps that build on one another and accumulate over a lifetime of effort.
