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Many states and cities to raise minimum wage in the New Year

Dec 24, 2021
Will employers notice? Many are already raising wages for their workers because of the labor crunch.
Even without jurisdictions raising the minimum wage, some employers are upping pay anyway to remain competitive in a tight labor market. Above, activists rally for a $15 an hour minimum wage.
Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images

USDA program could help shore up local and regional food economies

Dec 13, 2021
The program will help state and tribal governments purchase locally produced food for nutritional assistance programs like food banks and school cafeterias.
USDA Choice beef is displayed for sale in a grocery store on November 11, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Millennials facing high inflation for the first time

Dec 1, 2021
Beset by economic instability since 9/11 and the Great Recession, many millennials feel pressured and anxious about their prospects.
Millennials have already grappled with steep housing and tuition costs, and many entered the job market during the Great Recession.
Moyo Studio via Getty Images
The hike in Social Security payments for 2022 will help seniors cover rising costs for food, health care and rent.
Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

“I just don’t know where we’re gonna end up”

Aug 18, 2021
A Springdale, Arkansas, family's search for an affordable home spotlights an increasingly expensive rental and housing market.
Amid a boom in residential real estate, Sandy Lewis and her family have struggled to find an affordable rental.
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

For retirees on fixed incomes, rising prices for consumer goods can be tough

Jul 13, 2021
Social Security provides cost of living updates. But for those with additional money to invest, inflation can eat into more conservative investments like cash and bonds.

How hard is it to get cost-of-living raises during times of inflation?

Jun 16, 2021
Typically, unionized companies are the ones that directly tie cost-of-living increases to inflation. And union membership has been falling.
“In nonunionized companies, it's very unusual for there to be an explicit cost-of-living increase,” says Erica Groshen, a senior economics adviser at Cornell University. Above, two women negotiate in an office.
fizkes/Getty Images

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

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

Employers rethink cost of living calculations

Oct 12, 2020
As employees stay remote and can move anywhere to work, some companies are reconsidering the math that goes into compensation packages.
People sit in socially distanced circles while picnicking at Mission Dolores Park in San Francisco. Some companies are reconsidering compensation based on a worker's location.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

People still leaving California for Texas despite COVID-19 surge

Jun 26, 2020
The reasons for relocation include the lower cost of living, bigger houses for less money and more conservative politics.
Demonstrators call for the reopening of Texas at the state Capitol in April. Politics is one reason some Californians relocate to Texas.
Sergio Flores/Getty Images