Canada expands its pollution pricing rules
The federal carbon price floor was a charge of CAN$40 per ton on carbon emissions in 2021, and this fee will rise to CAN$170 per ton by 2030.
Economic inequality
Economic inequality shapes opportunity, health, and security for billions of people. This archive tracks real progress — policy wins, research breakthroughs, and community-driven solutions — that are narrowing gaps in wealth, wages, and access around the world.
California passes law requiring companies to post salary ranges on job listings
The law will also require California-based companies with more than 100 employees to show their median gender and racial pay gaps — a first for a U.S. state.
Austin becomes the first Texas city to experiment with ‘guaranteed income’
Under a yearlong, $1 million pilot program, the city will send monthly checks of $1,000 to 85 needy households at risk of losing their homes.
Colorado passes bill offering 10 hours per week of free universal preschool
By the fall of 2023, all 4-year-old children in Colorado will be able to attend preschool at no cost to their families.
U.S. forgives 40,000 student loans, provides aid to 3.6 million more
Student loan relief reached a milestone in April 2022, when the U.S. Department of Education wiped out balances for roughly 40,000 public service workers — teachers, nurses, social workers, and public defenders whose forgiveness applications had long been tangled in technicalities. Another 3.6 million borrowers got at least three years of credit toward eventual cancellation, after the department fixed income-driven repayment rules that servicers had applied inconsistently for years. Behind the numbers are people who chose lower-paying careers partly because forgiveness made the math work, and finally saw that promise honored. It’s a reminder that even imperfect systems can be repaired when advocates, researchers, and policymakers push in the same direction — and that economic justice often arrives quietly, one fixed rule at a time.
Wales offers £1,600 a month to care leavers in basic income pilot
Every 18-year-old leaving care will be offered £1,600 a month for two years.
Officials said it was the highest amount offered on a basic income scheme anywhere in the world.
U.S. Federal Reserve approves rules banning its officials from trading stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies
The rules “aim to support public confidence in the impartiality and integrity of the Committee’s work by guarding against even the appearance of any conflict of interest,” according to the Fed.
U.S. Education Department announces $2 billion of student loans will be cancelled within weeks
Borrowers who are pursuing public service student loan forgiveness will be able to count previously ineligible student loan payments, get credit for late student loan payments that were late, and more.
Costco raised its minimum wage to $17 an hour
Costco has around 180,000 US employees, and 90% of them work hourly. Costco’s new starting wage puts the chain $2/hr above Amazon, Target, and other top retailers’ minimum wage, and $5/hr above Walmart.
New California laws make housing more affordable and sustainable
California got three new laws that allow more homes to be built. Denser cities should shorten commutes, lower emissions, and make for more equitable housing.