How Bartenders and Wait Staff Are Making Up for Lost Tips During COVID-19 Quarantine

Americans don’t save enough - in 2005, Americans’ personal savings rate was negative for the first time since the Great Depression ─ instead of piling up savings, we are piling up debt. Two behavioral economics columns on how switching signup for a 401K plan from opt-in (say yes to be enrolled) to opt-out (say no to be un-enrolled) dramatically raises enrollment rates.

The unemployment crisis is a hard thing to solve - businesses sometimes have no choice but to let workers go. An innovative program tries to prevent joblessness by temporarily paying a portion of workers’ salaries at struggling companies.

Companies who outsource often fuel the race to the bottom for global workers' standards. Two companies, Digital Divide Data and Samasource, offer a model for outsourcing which is profitable and also prioritizes social impact.

After years of banning labor unions in Bangladesh, garment workers unionized to fight for higher wages and safer working conditions. For women, this isn't traditionally a space they were welcomed in, but now they’re holding their own meetings to ensure women’s safety is ensured on the job.

Juvenile offenders can feel as though they have no chances for a good future. Volunteers of America’s Face Forward 2 program helps young people in Cleveland to complete their education and to find employment. With this program, juvenile offenders believe they can succeed.

Monthly unemployment checks are dissuading individuals from finding work for fear that their work will pay less. Oulu, Finland is testing out 'basic income' where everyone receives a government cheque, to encourage people to work without fear of losing their monthly assistance.

Part 3 of the "Equity or Bust: Are Ontario's Public Schools a Model for Pennsylvania" Series: Ontario is widely lauded for its education system, celebrated for both high performance and relatively smaller achievement gaps between wealthy and poor students. One of the key factors to their success is rigorous preparation of and support for their teachers. Pennsylvania, meanwhile, struggles to find and retain educators.

The Los Angeles Metro service is working to use the U.S. Employment Plan model to upgrade its fleet with eco-friendly buses. Through this model, the manufacturers who invest in and hire disadvantaged workers and support the local economy receive extra points which help them in obtaining contracts from Los Angeles Metro. This create jobs locally and helps disadvantaged communities grow while creating a fleet of zero-emissions buses.

America’s system of health care is based on an old industrial-era model, without taking into account a decentralized, mobile, independent workforce that remains largely unprotected without health and unemployment insurance. The Freelancers Insurance Company, based in New York State, offers competitive premiums by having their executives receive salaries at low wages. The model keeps costs under control, which in turn makes health care more accessible to independent workers.

More and more economists and financiers are supporting the idea of a government-supported basic income check for everyone, regardless of financial status.