America’s Great Divergence
A growing earnings gap between those with a college education and those without is creating economic and cultural rifts throughout the country.
-
![]()
Lucy Nicholson / Reuters New Census Data Shows More Americans Emerging From Poverty
But it also lays bare the geographic and economic divisions growing in America.
-
![]()
Jacquelyn Martin / AP From 'Dream Jobs' to Bussing Tables Again
The end of DACA would mean the end of economic mobility for hundreds of thousands of people.
-
![]()
Carlos Barria / Reuters Japan Is No Place for Single Mothers
The divorce rate has jumped 66 percent in recent decades, but women are ill-equipped financially to raise children alone.
-
![]()
Ina Fassbender / Reuters Trump Administration Puts on Hold an Obama-Era Desegregation Effort
The rule would have helped poor Americans move to more expensive neighborhoods with better schools.
-
![]()
David J. Phillip / AP How a Disaster’s Economic Impacts Are Calculated
Providing an early estimate of a storm’s costs is generally a pretty rough science, and Harvey is a particularly tough case.
-
![]()
B.S.P.I. / Getty Can Anything Stop Rural Decline?
Small towns across Japan are on the verge of collapse. Whether they can do so gracefully has consequences for societies around the globe.
-
![]()
Jose Luis Gonzalez / Reuters What Would a Better NAFTA Look Like?
As renegotiations on the trade deal begin, some scholars are calling for a rethinking of how such agreements work.
-
![]()
AP The Last Time the U.S. Seriously Considered Merit-Based Immigration
President Trump is backing a plan that would prioritize skills. Fifty years ago, Lyndon Johnson tried the same, and failed.
-
![]()
Toru Hanai / Reuters Japan Might Be What Equality in Education Looks Like
The country’s government makes sure areas with low income levels and property values get good teachers too.
-
![]()
Chris McGrath / Getty The Mystery of Why Japanese People Are Having So Few Babies
Many point to unromantic 20-somethings and women’s entry into the workforce, but an overlooked factor is the trouble young men have in finding steady, well-paid jobs.
-
![]()
Jeff Chiu / AP From 'Not in My Backyard' to 'Yes in My Backyard'
Out of a desire for more-equitable housing policy, some city dwellers have started allying with developers instead of opposing them.
-
![]()
William Thomas Cain / Getty Will Grad Students Lose the Right to Unionize Under Trump?
Last year, students at private universities were granted collective bargaining rights. A reversal may be coming.
-
![]()
Mark Schiefelbein / John Minchillo / AP / ... Will China Save the American Economy?
Though Trump is skeptical of globalization, more investors from overseas are building factories and creating jobs. Will they find the U.S. a hospitable place for business?
-
![]()
Chris Bergin / Reuters How Factory Closures Doom the Next Generation
Widespread job loss can create financial and emotional stress that prevents children from attending college.
-
![]()
Beck Diefenbach / Reuters A Billionaire Defends Modern Philanthropy
The founder of LinkedIn talks about how wealthy Americans can use their money to make a difference.
-
![]()
Bettman / Getty States With Large Black Populations Are Stingier With Government Benefits
Research suggests that states with homogenous populations are more willing to spend on the safety net than those with higher shares of minorities.
-
![]()
Rich Pedroncelli / AP Are Pharmaceutical Companies to Blame for the Opioid Epidemic?
Recent lawsuits are asking courts whether the current crisis is comparable to the one over tobacco in the ’90s.
-
![]()
Christian Charisius / Reuters Making the Machines That Replace Humans
A visit to a robot factory in Ohio
-
![]()
Jim Bourg / Reuters The Unworkable Math of Trump’s Budget
Economists say the document doesn’t account for the costs of tax cuts and its other policy proposals.
-
![]()
Alana Semuels / The Atlantic All the Ways Retail's Decline Could Hurt American Towns
As brick-and-mortar stores close, local governments in struggling regions lose much-needed tax revenues.
