economic-disparities
Bethlehem dangles tax breaks in special zone to developers who include affordable housing
To get the break, developers would have to set aside every 10th unit for persons deemed low, very low or extremely low income.
The federal poverty line doesn’t really capture Americans’ financial struggles | Opinion
Low-wage jobs in the 21st century are not only the lowest rung on a career ladder, they are often the only rung.
Report: Pandemic exposed deep disparities in health coverage for Pa. kids | Friday Morning Coffee
While threats to safety net programs existed before the pandemic, newly released data shows the pandemic's 'disproportional impacts ... by race and ethnicity on Pennsylvania households with children'
We need education — not misinformation — on the child tax credit | Opinion
We can’t fix economic inequality with the wave of a wand. But the child tax credit and its potential permanence is a step in the right direction.
When baseball is like economics: A wealth tax is a home run | Marty Marks
People who benefit more from the system reasonably can be expected to pay more for the advantages the system begets.
More Americans couldn’t get enough to eat in 2020. The middle class was hit hardest | Opinion
Food insufficiency rates rose across the board, researchers who analyzed government data found. But food banks did help.
Report: Indigenous women in the U.S. earn 60 cents on the dollar
In 19 of the 32 states with sufficient data, Native women are paid at least $20K less per year than white men.
Don’t leave out wage preemption in the fight to raise Pa.’s minimum wage | Opinion
Research shows that tying wage increases to inflation does not truly solve the larger issue at hand
What American dream? Millions of Americans still can’t afford food, rent | Opinion
Writer James Truslow Adams coined the phrase “The American Dream” in 1931 to describe a society in which he hoped anyone could attain the “fullest stature of which they are innately capable.” That depended on having a good job that paid a living wage.
Billionaires slipped the surly bonds of Earth, but couldn’t escape its problems | Friday Coffee
"Jeff Bezos is going into space tomorrow. Yesterday, on earth, I saw a man search for food in a trash can," the critic Charles Preston observed on Twitter.
Federal data shows states still lag in getting aid to struggling renters. How is Pa. doing?
Pa. ranked fifth nationally in the rental aid paid out in June, pushing out more than $45M
Why Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘Whitey on the Moon’ still feels relevant today | Opinion
The year 2021 is shaping up to be an interesting year to revisit Scott-Heron’s “Whitey on the Moon.”