Dr. Joerg Huber proved the early bird DOES get the worm.

They also are less depressed, less stressed and skinnier, on average, according to researcher Dr. Joerg Huber of Roehampton University in London. He announced his finding in a British Psychological Society conference in mid-September

“Morning people tend to be healthier and happier as well as having lower body mass indices,” said Huber, who was featured in London’s Daily Telegraph.

His study of 1,068 adults found night owls roll out of bed by 8:54 a.m. and after 10 a.m. on weekends. They were more likely to eat more unhealthy fast food, more calories and less healthy fruits and vegetables, according to another study.

They were also found to be heavier weight-wise, and had a harder time losing weight than those who got out of bed before 7 a.m.

A college degree means a better job.

More than half of American’s have reported a job-related hardship this Great Recession, according to a Pew report based on U.S. Census Bureau analysis showing poverty rates have jumped to 15%.

“While nearly all Americans have been hurt in one way or another, some groups have suffered more than others,” the report states. Here’s the good news/bad news from Pew:

• More than half of households (55%) say they are in worse shape than before the recession began in 2007 under the Bush Administration
• Those with a college education have been less affected by the recession
• Men have had higher job-loss rates than women
• Middle-aged adults have been hit the hardest in home values and loss of retirement funds
• Blacks and Hispanics have received a disproportionate amount of lob losses and foreclosures
• 27% have had trouble paying medical bills
• 49% loaned money to someone
• Young adults have taken the biggest losses on the job front
• Middle-aged adults have gotten the worst of the downturn in house values, household finances and retirement accounts

Here’s the Pew site and reports: http://pewsocialtrends.org/2011/09/12/adding-context-to-the-census-bureaus-income-and-poverty-report/?src=prc-headline

Rick Perry created jobs for undocumented workers.

A new report finds that despite GOP boasts of Texas job creation, most of those jobs from 2007 to 2011 went to migrant workers – 40% of them to undocumented immigrants.

What makes the study more noteworthy is it was conducted by a nonprofit with expertise in immigration, the Center for Immigration Studies. The Center found that from 2007 to 2011, in addition to 40% of the new jobs going to undocumented immigrants, another 40 percent of the rest went to immigrants who were in the country legally.

The total: legal or undocumented immigrants held about 225,000 of the 279,000 jobs created in Texas since 2007.

While it’s clear that Gov. Rick Perry, the leader of the GOP presidential pack, doesn’t believe in climate change or evolution, hopefully he believes in good jobs.

But now, my cribside presence and the screeching from what turns out to be the alarm clock has roused the baby and I’m late gearing up for another marathon day of work with three hours of sleep.

Working mothers know all about this zombie netherworld state, the inability to tell one real alarm from an imagined one. The struggle to keep our children safe and happy while working double-time at the job to prove to ourselves and our colleagues and especially our bosses that we can still cut it. Meanwhile, you somehow find time to wave hello to the love of your life, What’s-His-Name?

We can complain to the wind about how most developed countries actually pay mothers of infants to stay home, complete with state-sponsored healthcare. To be honest, those early years where when I struggled the most on the job to redefine my work-life balance.

My zombie days are long gone and I feel like I’m in the most productive period of my working life, still young enough to have the energy but full of the experience to back it all up. I work smarter, and I can work longer, guilt free. This feels like my greatest Productive Zone.

But my friend the corporate success advised me, “Never talk about your kids being in college with clients, it makes you sound old.”

To me It’s clear that parents especially mothers with older children are more adept than Survivor Man at handling whatever the universe throws at them, having raised kids and tended to all their Halloween costumes and SAT-testing needs while running a household and getting to work with matching shoes every day.

Am I the only one celebrating the Productive Zone? In addition to the war stories you hear, a recent column in Forbes, the serious business publication, says flat out that women over 50 face serious discrimination in the workplace.

The column by executive recruiter Ellen Weinreb in Forbes finds the facts behind the depressing anecdotal evidence that a wealth of human potential is being wasted.

She cites researcher Joanna Lahey of Texas A&M University, who found women over 50 are 44 percent more likely to face discrimination in hiring.

Lahey has done multiple studies on age discrimination and says, “When companies say that experience is a hindrance, they often mean age is a hindrance.”

Her 2006 study shows that employers, presented with two sets of female candidates with the same experience, are less likely to request interviews from women older than 50.

Weinreb’s Forbes column explores possible reasons and remedies for the bias – make yourself ageless on your resume – but in the end it just seems sad. No wonder so many U.S. companies are struggling when male executives think with their biological imperative instead of their heads.

So here’s to all the human talent out there of any age. And good luck on the job.

The popular job-search engine Indeed.com is now doubling as a resume search service, thereby aiding both employers and job hunters to find each other. Everybody wins!

This is a nice gift to America’s more than 15 million unemployed and the countless underemployed out there.

Sadly, Indeed.com execs say a pay-to-play plan is in the works, so get out there before the paywall knocks you out of one of the biggest rings going in the current marketplace.

For those still on the job and watching their back, Indeed.com officials say you can keep your resume private to help shield your job search from your current employer. Those guys can get a bit grumpy about workers wanting to jump ship.

It also promises to simplify seeking jobs on Indeed by using resumes, according to company officials, “We always start with the question: ‘What is best for the job seeker?’”

Wow! An executive who puts customer service first! Yeah, that’s snarky, but fair to say, because too often the vital task of finding the workers needed to turn the gears of American capitalism has been left to the IT engineers. The result: too many computerized job search systems nearly impossible to navigate.

That’s good news for job seekers. So good luck on the job!