Alana Semuels

$600 a Week in Extra Unemployment Benefits May Soon End, But Millions of Americans Still Can't Find Jobs

'It's tough to even think about what happens when July ends.'

Segregation Has Gotten Worse, Not Better, and It's Fueling the Wealth Gap Between Black and White Americans

'Everybody thinks that something was solved back in the 60s, but no, it wasn’t really solved, it jus...

'It's a Race to the Bottom.' The Coronavirus is Cutting Into Gig Worker Incomes as the Newly Jobless Flood Apps

As companies lay off employees, competition for gig work is soaring, and prices for gigs are droppin...

Millions of Americans Facing Financial Ruin

The coronavirus has exposed the fragility of America’s safety net

The Poor Are Getting Poorer As Creditors Pursue Debts

'Things were bad before the COVID emergency, they got worse with COVID, and they’re going to get eve...

How Labor Leader Mary Kay Henry Is Fighting for Frontline Workers in a New World

Why Renters Are Being Evicted Despite Moratoriums

Apartment owners say they're struggling, too, as bills pile up while tenants don't pay rent.

COVID-19 Stimulus Relief Out of Reach for Millions

As the crisis goes on, their finances may be irretrievably altered by this pandemic, despite governm...

'I Feel Like I've Gotten Trapped in This Loan.' Here's Why the COVID-19 Stimulus Package Only Helps Some Borrowers

'The private student loan market is really kind of the Wild West of consumer finance.'

Why This Financial Crisis Is Like No Other

'If people get $1,000 but can't leave their house, what good is that?'

Coronavirus Shows Why It's Hard to Make Remote Work Actually Work

'Typing LOL is not the same as actually laughing out loud.' Even introverts crave some social intera...

How Coronavirus Is Exposing America's Inequality Crisis

The people who serve us donuts and coffee and tend our children have no choice but to work, despite ...

How Michael Bloomberg's Money Affected Local Elections

Critics of charter schools say Bloomberg's money gave the billionaire an outsized role in Oakland an...

The Plan to Make Producers Pay to Fix Recycling in the U.S.

A growing number of states, led by Maine, are poised to pass bills requiring producers to collect an...

For Retail Workers, It's a Brutal Merry-go-Round as Jobs Vanish

Severance pay and retraining programs are in short supply for laid-off employees caught in the retai...