Lawmakers in New Jersey recently advanced a bill that would ban businesses from going cashless — a move that would put the state at odds with the global trend toward electronic payments but would strengthen resistance from local officials who see no-cash policies as discriminatory.

Almost 1 of 3 Americans in 2018 say they don’t use cash during a typical week of purchases, according to a Pew Research Center study released this week. The findings reveal that Americans are becoming less reliant on paper currency, mirroring shifts in Sweden, India and China.

But state and local officials say that restaurants and shops that adopt cashless policies have left some members of the community behind - individuals without the means to open a bank account or who lack access to lines of credit or the mobile apps that power digital payments.

The New Jersey measure, which would apply only to face-to-face sales and would exclude Internet and phone purchases, comes as officials push similar efforts to bar no-cash rules in New York, Philadelphia and the District.

While cashless policies offer consumers the promise of convenience and provide businesses greater protection against theft and shoddy record-keeping, they also can exclude low-income consumers or undocumented immigrants, critics say.

“Cash-free businesses are discriminatory by design and pose challenges to low-income communities that may not have access to credit/debit,” New York City Council member Ritchie Torres said on Twitter last month when he introduced a bill that would ban the practice.

According to the Pew study, the decline in the use of physical currency is uneven among the population when race, age and income are accounted for. Pew found a significant gap in cashless adoption tied to annual household income, with adults making at least $75,000 more than twice as likely to make all their purchases without using cash in a typical week, compared with people who make less than $30,000.

The Pew findings suggest that the benefits of going cashless may come with a cost that only some groups of people will bear. Americans with lower incomes are roughly four times as likely than higher earners to make all or almost all of their purchases with cash, according to the study.

As CNBC has noted, business leaders have defended cashless policies by pointing to higher security and improved customer service and efficiency, even as they acknowledge their critics. Some advocates have focused on providing people who are underserved by the traditional banking system with more affordable options, attacking the root cause behind the criticisms of cashless payments.

*Note: CNBC美国消费者新闻与商业频道

Hiring processes can be thought of as a battle between integrity and dishonesty. You might imagine this is a simple fight between truth-seeking firms and self-promoting candidates, and to a certain extent it is. But companies themselves are prone (有倾向的) to bend reality out of shape in ways that are self-defeating.

Start with the obvious wrongdoers: job applicants. When it comes to writing the resume (简历), they tend to massage (美化) reality into the most appealing shape possible. Everyone beyond a certain level of experience is a transformational leader personally responsible for generating millions income; the world economy would be about 15 times bigger than it actually is if all such claims were true. The average British spends four and a half hours a day watching TV and online videos. But each average job candidate is an enthusiast for public welfare, using their spare time only for worthy purposes, like volunteering in soup kitchens.

But the tendency to stretch the truth infects companies as well as applicants. The typical firm will write a job description that invariably describes the work environment as fast-paced and innovative, and then lays out a set of improbable requirements for the “ideal candidate”, someone who almost by definition does not exist. Sometimes, the requirements include an ability to go back and change the course of history.

Too few firms offer an accurate account of what a position actually involves in their job previews, which are supposed to give prospective employees a genuine sense of the negatives and positives of the job, as well as a clear idea of the company’s corporate culture. One effective strategy is to lay out in text or video, what a typical day in the role would look like.

Such honesty can be its own reward. Research has long suggested that realistic job previews lead to lower turnover and higher employee satisfaction. A paper in 2011 by David Eamest of Towson University and his co-authors concluded that favourable perceptions of the organisation’s honesty are the best explanation for why. So a process designed to uncover the truth about job applicants would run a lot more smoothly if firms were also honest about themselves.

A tender woman, or an independent one, which one would you prefer? A recent research shows that most people would choose the latter.

This type of woman is called a nühanzi (“tough woman”). Experts believe these characteristics have social and psychological roots among young females in China. Su Hao’s friends all call her a tough woman, because she can finish tough tasks usually carried out by men. For example, she carries 10-litre water to her dormitory on the 5th floor. “I depend on no one but myself,” she says.

According to a recent survey by China Youth Daily, tough women have become rather common in society. Of the 21,265 respondents, 78.5 percent said they are familiar with a tough woman. About 50 percent said they like women with tough characteristics, while less than 29 percent expressed the opposite view.

Why are tough women gaining popularity? Shen Meng, a psychological consultant, believes the fierce competition in society is contributing to this trend. “Women are often in a disadvantaged position compared to men,” Shen says. “In order to survive, they have to be independent, strong and tough.”

Liu Xiaolin, professor of psychology at Wuhan Mental Health Center, believes tough women are brought up this way. They are often on close relationship with their fathers, who teach their daughters to be brave and decisive,” he says. As a result, these women are more likely to be psychologically healthy and more tolerant to stress, according to Liu.

Though Liu believes that this is a good trend, Hu Shenzhi, a psychologist at the Guangdong Sunflower Counseling Center, says the popularity of tough woman indicates an unclear line between gender identities, which can lead to relationship problems. “Some women with characteristics that differ from the traditional female image may have a difficult time finding Mr Right,” he says.“Even if they get married, their manly characteristics might cause family conflicts.