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The benefits and drawbacks of employer-sponsored child care

Mar 17, 2025
"Employers are not going to necessarily be prioritizing what's best for kids; they're going to always have their bottom line as their top priority," explains Vox's Rachel Cohen.
"There’s fear that [employer-sponsored child care] moves further away from the idea of universal child care," said Vox's Rachel Cohen.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Why data on the economy doesn't match our feelings

Mar 10, 2025
Data doesn't always show a full picture. Example: Functional unemployment was 23.3% in January — very different than the 4% headline figure.
"[Net] wages haven't increased over the last 20 years" for middle- and low-income Americans, said Gene Ludwig. "For 60% of America, they've actually declined or been stagnant."
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Is it time to rethink economics in a more human light?

Feb 24, 2025
The newly established Center for Heterodox Economics aims to reimagine how we measure economic progress using a more human-centered approach.
Jeenah Moon/Getty Images

The lasting effects of fires on local labor markets

New research finds that larger fires can depress local hiring for up to three years.
Search and rescue teams search the charred rubble of a home for victims in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire on Jan. 14.
Zoe Meyers/AFP via Getty Images

What it was like to work at a grocery store during peak COVID

Jan 23, 2025
For our Economic Pulse series, we're taking a closer look at essential workers' experiences during the height of the pandemic.
"We have an industry that employs millions of people to sell the rest of us food, and they can't feed themselves," said writer Ann Larson of grocery store workers.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Has financial insecurity replaced upward mobility in the U.S. economy?

And will any of that change in an economy under the next Trump administration?
"We've been taught the story about the deserving rich and the undeserving poor for generations," said Alissa Quart. "This idea that we're doing this all on our own is a fiction."
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

What pathways to work do immigrants without permanent legal status have?

Jul 25, 2024
Legal loopholes for working without authorization exist, as immigrants await updates to their status or work permits.
While waiting for legal authorization to work, immigrants who entered the U.S. without legal permission can get work.
Manjurul/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

How a queer, AAPI-run tattoo collective is trying to change the game

Jun 19, 2024
Long Time Tattoo in Brooklyn, New York, is reimagining the tattoo shop experience with inclusivity as a top priority.
From left, Citrus Son, Melanie Lee and Gabrielle Widjaja of Long Time Tattoo in New York.
Natalie White/Marketplace

A window into the world of deconstruction

Apr 17, 2024
Chris Rutherford, executive director of Salvage Warehouse of Detroit, shares how the deconstruction business is a huge benefit for communities economically, environmentally and socially.
Deconstruction workers from the Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit sort housing material from a run-down building.
Courtesy Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit

How a virtual fitness company is staying strong in a changing market

With people returning to physical gyms, Jeff Witherspoon, CEO of E2M Fitness, says doctors' advice to patients is boosting his service.
E2M Fitness founder and CEO Jeff Witherspoon. "I think all fitness companies are seeing that Peloton effect," he said.
Courtesy Witherspoon