The tipped minimum wage has origins in slavery

And that legacy means a worker can be paid as little as $2.13 an hour at the federal level.
Nikola Stojadinovic via Getty Images

The struggle to treat kids at a juvenile justice facility

Dec 8, 2021
Conditions at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake in Wisconsin were so bad that now, a federally appointed monitor oversees the facilities. As the number of kids there has declined, costs have gone up.
The Copper Lake and Lincoln Hills schools in Wisconsin house kids who have been sentenced to live there by a judge.
Courtesy of Wisconsin Department of Corrections

Regulators look at how "big data" may contribute to racial bias in insurance rates

Nov 30, 2021
Some advocates say the industry needs to move more quickly to address the issue.
While many insurance companies leverage big data and artificial intelligence to calculate insurance rates, advocates say it can produce disparities between urban and suburban residents. Above, a suburban neighborhood in Richmond, California, viewed from an Amtrak train.
Joe Raedle via Getty Images

What will it take to get more Black and Latinx workers in manufacturing jobs?

Aug 26, 2021
Manufacturers complain they can't find skilled workers, even as they face a wave of retirements of older white men.
Nieves Longordo, president and owner of Diseños Ornamental Iron in Detroit's Mexicantown, said she's concerned about finding and recruiting younger talent for her shop.
Photo courtesy of Nieves Longordo

Analysis finds racial disparity in pandemic unemployment benefits

Jun 21, 2021
White unemployment applicants were more likely to get relief than Black applicants.
A new report shows that Black applicants were less likely to receive federal unemployment benefits when compared to white applicants — something which also occurred during the Great Recession.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

For Broadway performers, a year of pandemic unemployment and reflection

Apr 2, 2021
As Broadway eyes reopening, a performer reflects on a year offstage.
"I think theater is resilient," said Broadway's Kathryn Allison. "There's nothing like sitting in a theater with a group of people, watching something that you know tomorrow's audience will never see."
@anniek_with_a_camera

The Economy Reimagined, Part 1: Dealing with Inequality

Amid the wreckage of 2020, are there opportunities to fix what was already broken, including the system of human relationships we call the economy?
Pictured: Hundreds of people wait in line for hours at a downtown Brooklyn office for their EBT Food Stamp cards on May 12, 2020 in New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

There's a big racial divide over COVID-19 cost concerns, new study finds

Jul 29, 2020
People of color are almost twice as likely as white people to be worried about how to pay for care if they get COVID-19.
The study also says nonwhite workers are about twice as likely as whites to stay in a job they don’t like because they’re afraid of losing health insurance during the pandemic.
Go Nakamura/Getty Images

Black women twice as likely as white men to suffer economically from COVID-19

Apr 30, 2020
That includes getting laid off, furloughed or having hours or pay reduced because of the pandemic.
Risk of job loss is already a reality for many black women.
John Moore/Getty Images

There's a big racial disparity in NIH funding

Nov 20, 2015
Aside from sheer fairness issues, the racial gap could hurt patients, too.