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Alana Semuels / The Atlantic Good School, Rich School; Bad School, Poor School
The inequality at the heart of America’s education system
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Philip and Elizabeth De Bay / Getty The Feudal Origins of America’s Most-Hated Tax
Property tax—one of the most criticized taxes on U.S. residents—stems from a system put in place by William the Conqueror.
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Kevin Lamarque / Reuters Will D.C.’s Housing Ever Be Affordable Again?
Over the next decade, the city’s demographics will change dramatically, and housing policy will largely determine who gets to stay.
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Alana Semuels / The Atlantic An Unsteady Future for New England's Suburbs
As people move to warmer climates and cities, small towns throughout the region are weathering decline.
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Eric Thayer / Reuters Can the Working Families Party Keep Winning?
The party scored major victories in last week’s Connecticut primary. Now what?
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Elaine Thompson / AP Payday Loans’ Potentially Predatory Replacement
As lenders respond to impending regulations by pushing different products, many fear that borrowers won’t be protected.
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Chris Keane / Reuters What Did Voters Learn From a Week of Economic Promises?
Trump and Clinton’s speeches were light on policy details and heavy on insults.
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Evan Vucci / AP Trump's Economy: Lower Taxes, No TPP, and … Affordable Childcare?
The Republican nominee’s latest round of proposals included some surprises, as well as plenty of less-surprising GOP orthodoxy.
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AP Is the U.S. Due for Radically Raising Taxes for the Rich?
That’s what has usually happened whenever a large proportion of Americans have been upset with the distribution of their country’s wealth.
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Shannon Stapleton / Reuters Are Low-Skill Workers America's Next Great Economic Resource?
Some economists think that continued GDP growth will require restoring a struggling segment of the labor force to where it was before the recession.
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Lynne Sladky / AP When Banning One Kind of Discrimination Results in Another
A new paper finds that so-called “ban-the-box” policies, which prevent employers’ from seeing job applicants’ criminal histories, has unintended consequences.
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Alana Semuels / The Atlantic Eight Parents, One Shower
Four couples in Oregon are trying to ease the burdens and costs of modern parenthood by sharing a home, a truck, and nightly dinners.
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Lucas Jackson / Reuters How Can the Hospitals That Serve D.C.’s Poor Keep Up?
Even in a city with some of the best health-insurance coverage rates and a glut of medical facilities, residents just a few miles apart are projected to have vastly different lifespans.
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Richard Drew / AP When Gains at the Top Hurt Those at the Bottom
Wealth isn't necessarily bad in and of itself, but a new report suggests there's a correlation between the rich getting richer and everyone else getting left behind.
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Lucy Nicholson / Reuters Why Should Only the Wealthy Get Solar Panels?
Washington, D.C., has embarked on an aggressive clean-energy plan, but a big challenge will be making sure it doesn't worsen existing inequalities.
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Reuters A Former Wall Street Trader on Why He Left Banking
“You can feel like making $800,000 is almost like living in poverty."
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Mike Segar / Reuters When Employers Pay Student Loans, Those Who Most Need Help Are Left Out
Companies are providing debt assistance to their employees—a nice, and rarefied, perk.
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Jeff Topping / Reuters Poor at 20, Poor for Life
A new study indicates that from the 1980s to the 2000s, it became less likely that a worker could move up the income ladder.
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Adam Bettcher / Reuters Segregation in Paradise?
Once known for their inclusiveness, Minnesota’s Twin Cities have become more divided in recent decades.
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Lucy Nicholson / Reuters The Fines and Fees That Keep Former Prisoners Poor
States and counties have upped the amounts they charge defendants, saddling those getting out of jail with huge amounts of debt they have little hope of paying off.
