Opinion writer Jay Caspian Kang shares his view that affirmative action policies merely make for “cosmetically diverse” campuses, rather than contributing to broader social justice initiatives. Natasha Warikoo, a professor of sociology at Tufts University, believes affirmative action is worth saving, and we should find ways to reframe it.

The Chinese leader’s campaign is partly aimed at addressing rising costs of education, healthcare and housing—and if successful could strengthen his expected bid to seek a third term.

A new analysis by the Census found that the median gay married couple had a household income of $121K compared with $93K among their lesbian counterparts, highlighting wage gaps in same-gender families.

Essential costs like housing accounted for 17% of total spending among households earning annual incomes of less than $15,000 while only representing 2% of costs among households earning $200,000+. On the flipside, 19% of total spending among households earning $200K+ went toward personal insurance and pensions compared to roughly 1.5% among households earning less than $15K.

The 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act included a little-known provision establishing something called opportunity zones. The plan, which was lauded as a way to direct investments into under-developed communities in the U.S., created 8,764 tax havens that were almost immediately exploited by the wealthy to gobble up capital gains tax breaks. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Wessel explains how opportunity zones came to be, who is profiting off of them, and why it’s so difficult to tweak the tax code without creating windfalls for the rich.

A new study found that 10,000 Bitcoin accounts hold 5 million out of the 19 million coins in circulation, or the equivalent of about $232 billion.

Research shows that only half of Americans in their 30s earn more than their parents did at the same age. A few decades ago, nearly all adults did.

Heatmaps showing different kinds of inequality, with code.

Science can find a cure for our diseases, but not for our societal ills.

Some places lift children out of poverty. Others trap them there. Now cities are trying to do something about the difference.

Roughly a quarter of American adults (23%) say they haven’t read a book in whole or in part in the past year.

Chris Gilliard grew up with racist policing in Detroit. He sees a new form of oppression in the tech we use every day.

Driving kills as many Americans each year as guns do. Experts say that’s preventable.

Western housing shortages do not just prevent many from ever affording their own home. They also drive inequality, climate change, low productivity growth, obesity, and even falling fertility rates.

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, and business professionals.

A Yale study finds older people living in less advantaged neighborhoods become disabled roughly two years earlier than their more affluent counterparts.

Bad things lead to more bad things. But (some) bad things can be fixed.

The troubling interaction between NIMBYs and the knowledge economy.

Sociologists of education frequently draw on the cultural capital framework to explore the ways in which educational institutions perpetuate inequality in schools and the larger society. However, the...

As millions "age in place," millions more must figure out how to provide their loved ones with increasingly complex care.

If you started working from home in the last 16 months, you’re in good company. Over 100 million Americans transitioned from in-person to remote work during the…

The latest version of the global World Happiness Report, which is based on Gallup surveys that ask regular people in more than 90 countries to weigh in on various “life

It has long been recognised that innovation is unevenly distributed, but whether such technical progress may be the root cause of the rising income and wealth inequality in the US has been a matter

As the pandemic took hold, more than 1 million children did not enroll in local schools. Many of them were the most vulnerable: 5-year-olds in low-income neighborhoods.

Flooding is becoming worse due to the climate crisis. But the risk doesn’t affect us all equally. A report released by the real estate brokerage firm Redfin this week shows that formerly redlined areas are more vulnerable to the threat of floods.

A new study shows that poor communities and communities of color are exposed to higher temperatures all across the U.S.

The Biden administration has made large investments in care work—both child care and elder care—key planks in its American Jobs Plan (AJP) and American Families Plan (AFP). These investments would be transformative, and a greater public role in providing this care work can make the U.S. economy fairer and more efficient. The administration has also…