Apr 29, 2021

Do we really want to get back to a pre-pandemic economy?

Patrons dine at an outdoor restaurant in downtown San Diego, California, in July. Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images

Also on today's show: a look at the child care industry issues weighing on workers and parents, and how a variable minimum wage could work.

Segments From this episode

GDP grows at fastest rate since Reagan era, but there's still pain

by Sabri Ben-Achour

Apr 29, 2021

Economists expect the U.S. to surpass the GDP we’d have seen if COVID-19 hadn’t happened. But many still wait for jobs to come back.

Even as the U.S.' GDP improves, it'll take a while for that to have an impact of jobseekers, if it ever does.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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Why is child care so expensive in the United States?

by Meghan McCarty Carino

Apr 29, 2021

It's labor intensive, and caregiver wages are most of the cost. Still, workers, mostly women of color, make "near-poverty wages."

Regulations vary by state, but child care centers usually need at least one caregiver for every four infants. That ratio might be 1 to 6 for older toddlers.

MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images

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The Block

Reparations fund will help Black women build houses — and wealth

by Amy Scott

Apr 29, 2021

A Baltimore church that worked against Black homeownership is now investing in it.

Bryanna Vellines, 28, installs a window frame in an old Baltimore row house.

Amy Scott/Marketplace

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Housing is hot, and LA mortgage broker sees no sign of a slowdown

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban

Apr 29, 2021

Vivian Gueler of Pacific Trust Group says demand for housing in Los Angeles is outpacing supply, thanks largely to low interest rates.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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I've Always Wondered ...

Could the federal minimum wage vary by the regional cost of living?

by Mitchell Hartman

Apr 29, 2021

A listener writes: "If you make the minimum wage $15/hour, it’s not enough in New York and it’s way too much in Peoria. Would it be possible to tie the minimum wage to the cost of living?"

Many Democrats back a $15 hourly federal minimum wage. That can buy you different things in different parts of the country.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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Music from the episode

Lush Four Tet

You Got Me The Roots, Tariq Trotter, Erykah Badu, Eve

The World Is Ours Funky DL

Cuffed Nick Hakim

Preservation Wu-Tang Clan, Del The Funky Homosapien, Aesop Rock

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Daisy Palacios Senior Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer

Sean McHenry Associate Producer

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