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.
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.
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.
British Columbia ties highest in Canada minimum wage increases to inflation
British Columbia’s minimum wage is the highest among the provinces in Canada, and it is about to go even higher.
Haiti hikes minimum wage by up to 54% following worker protests
The office of Prime Minister Henry posted a sliding scale of wage hikes that vary by industry, with the greatest increase going to workers in areas such as the electricity and telecommunications.
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. raises minimum wage for federal employees to $15
The directive will impact almost 70,000 federal employees most of whom work at the Departments of Defense, Agriculture and Veteran Affairs.
Oklahoma caps monthly insulin co-pay at $30
Over 450,000 Oklahomans suffer from diabetes, while the American Diabetes Association says that over 1 million in the state are on the verge of it.
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.