Laws

Which countries get the most paid vacation days?

After decades of social evolution and improvements to work-life balance, contradicting pressures are fragmenting the work world’s method of paid leave. Companies struggling to attract talent are paying employees more, leaving businesses understaffed but with a steep payroll to meet and an unwillingness to give time off. In 2022, only 35 percent of American companies offer paid maternity leave–a shocking drop from 53 percent just 2 years ago, according to a study from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). For paid paternity leave, the drop is from 44 to 27 percent in the same period.

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Mapping Stereotypes

A Map of Every Chinese City

China’s urban planning philosophies and approaches have experienced many transitions because of governance and economic structure shifts throughout the country’s extensive history. The establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 denotes the start of three recent historical phases of urban planning that express a divergence from traditional Chinese urban planning morphologies, broadly categorized as a socialist, hybrid, and global cities.

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Entertainment

Every country’s favorite original T.V. show and film across popular streaming services

Sitting down to binge on a box set or get lost in the latest Hollywood hit movie has never been more effortless. Gone are the daytimes of exploring the TV guide or heading out on a pilgrimage to Blockbuster. Today, audiences have to sit back, select their go-to streaming service, and gorge on the hours of entertainment available at their fingertips. Streaming platforms have begun to hoard new and old content in a try to lure and keep subscribers. But as the competition amplifies between streaming platforms to keep viewers coming back for more, the essential for new and exclusive content becomes ever more apparent.

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Cultural cartography

Books Around America: Find the Books Set Nearest to You

You can travel our entire world, and infinite others, through books. Better still, an excellent novel supplies an erudite tour guide and a caravan of colorful characters to accompany you along the way. Apply this theory to your hometown, and you can delve even more profound. Peel back the layers of what could or what absolutely shouldn’t happen behind the closed doors of your neighbors, and you’ll see, hear, and smell your neighborhood anew.

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Health

The Most Stressed U.S. States and Cities

The American Psychological Association declared that 41 percent of American adults say their stress levels have risen since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic 2 years earlier. Post-pandemic economic consequences and the invasion of Ukraine are among the factors affecting a population still sensitive from years of living in “survival mode.”

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Maps of World Religions

Religion in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Religion in the United Kingdom and Ireland is characterized by a historically dominant presence of Christianity. In the UK, the Church of England (Anglicanism) has been the established church, while the Church of Scotland is significant in Scotland. Ireland has a strong Catholic tradition. However, both regions have experienced growing religious diversity and secularization in recent years, with a rising number of non-religious and atheist individuals. Other faiths, including Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism, have also become more prominent due to immigration and globalization, shaping the religious landscape in the UK and Ireland.

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