The federal minimum wage for most workers is $7.25. Last raised in 2009 — 15 years ago, if you can believe it — that unlivable amount has become shorthand for how little Congress has done to help workers keep up with the rising cost of living over the years. But the federal minimum for tipped workers — like restaurant servers — has been stuck at an abominably low $2.13 an hour for over 30 years. And though employers are supposed to cover the difference when tips don’t raise that amount to the regular minimum wage, noncompliance is common. In state after state, workers have taken matters into t ..read more

Before there was a United States of America — before our Constitution was adopted, and even before our 1776 Declaration of Independence — one of America’s best democratic institutions was already delivering for the people: the Postal Service. For 250 years, this invaluable public service has delivered more than mail. It was — and is — a core element of our national unity. Its network of local employees go door-to-door, coast-to-coast, six days a week in every zip code, physically linking America’s widely dispersed, wildly diverse people into one country. It is a universally popular and essenti ..read more

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In cities and in rural areas, in red states and blue states, most residents want cleaner and more connected communities. Public transit — including trains, buses, and dial-a-ride services — and accessible walking and bike routes give us healthy, clean, and affordable ways for everyone to get where they need to go. But for too long, policymakers have sold us the false choice that we must fund highways above all else. They continue to waste billions of our tax dollars on highway expansion projects that pollute our air and increase traffic, instead of funding sidewalks, safe biking routes, and ro ..read more

Growing up, I looked up to my father and aunt, who began restaurant industry careers after immigrating from Eritrea in the 1970s. When I started working, a restaurant job was a natural choice. While I took great pride in my work, I struggled with the conditions. I was often on my feet for 10-12 hour shifts six days a week, had no access to affordable health care, was wholly unaware of my worker rights, and constantly worried about money. Through laws rooted in slavery, employers are allowed to pay restaurant servers a sub-minimum wage. At the federal level, this wage has been stuck at $2.13 pe ..read more

April is Arab American Heritage Month. Her community has made countless contributions worth celebrating, columnist Farrah Hassen writes this week. But amid the suffering in Gaza, the celebration feels bittersweet at best. One thing she takes heart in, however, is the remarkable movement of Arab Americans and others from all walks of life calling for a ceasefire in the conflict, a view that’s now broadly popular among Americans if not their elected officials. Also this week, we offer more perspectives from our ongoing coverage of the structural causes of — and solutions to — poverty. Tiffany Ta ..read more

I’ve always known my Arab culture is worth celebrating. I heard it in Syrian tenor Sabah Fakhri’s powerful voice reverberating in my mom’s car on the way to piano lessons and soccer practice during my youth. I smelled it in the za’atar, Aleppo pepper, allspice, and cumin permeating the air in the family kitchen. I saw it in the intricate embroidery on my grandma’s silk robe. And in the determination etched in the faces of my immigrant parents, who raised seven children in Southern California without relinquishing our rich Syrian traditions. April is National Arab American Heritage Month. It sh ..read more

If there’s one thing I could tell lawmakers, it would be to bring back the expanded, monthly, fully refundable Child Tax Credit. Those monthly payments of up to $300 per child cut child poverty nearly in half in just a few months. And when the credit expired in late 2021, child poverty immediately shot back up. So we know it works. Lawmakers are now considering a more modest expansion. It doesn’t go far enough, but it could lift another 400,000 kids out of poverty — children like the ones I worked with. I grew up walking the fine line of having something and nothing all at the same time. I’ve ..read more

In 2004, I was a single mom raising three daughters on my own. I worked three jobs, including an overnight shift as a translator at our local hospital, to make ends meet. Every time I stood in line at the supermarket, I worried about what I would have to put back on the shelf to stay within our weekly $100 food budget. My daughters are all grown now. But whenever I’m buying groceries, I still get that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach as I remember not knowing if we would have enough to eat, and how much — or how little — I could provide for my family with $100. Prices for all of us ha ..read more

It might seem like there’s never been a better time to buy an electric vehicle. If you go by the headlines, you might be forgiven for thinking you can afford to upgrade your old gas-guzzling sedan with a sleek new zero-emissions EV. And if you can’t, government rebates will knock thousands off the price tag, right? Well, not necessarily. To qualify for the ever-changing and complicated federal $7,500 rebate on EVs, you have to be rich enough to afford a new  EV. (Some used models qualify, but good luck figuring out which ones — and better luck finding one that’s available). But to qualify ..read more