Samantha Fields

Senior Reporter

SHORT BIO

Samantha Fields is a senior reporter at Marketplace.

She’s particularly interested in how the economy affects people’s everyday lives, and a lot of her coverage focuses on economic inequality, housing and climate change.

She’s also reported and produced for WCAI and The GroundTruth Project, the “NPR Politics Podcast,” NPR’s midday show, “Here & Now,” Vermont Public Radio and Maine Public Radio. She got her start in journalism as a reporter for a community paper, The Wellesley Townsman, and her start in radio as an intern and freelance producer at “The Takeaway” at WNYC. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Latest Stories (535)

Have student loans? Want forgiveness? An important deadline is coming up.

Apr 26, 2024
Certain federal loan holders must consolidate by April 30 to qualify through Income-Driven Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
The Education Department is reviewing more than 40 million federal student loan accounts and granting credit for years of past payments that previously didn’t count toward forgiveness.
J. David Ake/Getty Images

New federal rule on minimum staffing for nursing homes takes effect

Apr 24, 2024
Until now, the only staffing rule for nursing homes has been that they have “sufficient” staff, without specifying what that means.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is putting $75 million toward getting more nurses to work in nursing homes.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

You're not imagining it: Car insurance costs 22% more than it did last year

Apr 17, 2024
And people are increasingly shopping around for a better deal, according to new data from JD Power. Finding one is another matter.
Thanks to rising rates, people are increasingly shopping around to see if they can find a better deal on their car insurance, according to new data from JD Power. 
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Retail sales climbed to a higher-than-expected 0.7% in March

Apr 15, 2024
Consumers are still spending, but that looks a little different now than it has the past few years.
Spending at nonstore retailers — like Temu or Amazon — rose 2.7% last month.
ArtistGNDphotography/Getty Images

Private equity's role in health care is under increasing scrutiny

Apr 8, 2024
A Senate committee and two federal agencies are taking closer looks at how private equity’s ownership of hospitals and physician staffing companies is affecting health care.
"About 25% of emergency room departments are staffed by private equity-owned physician companies," said Sabrina Howell of NYU’s Stern School of Business.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Nonprofits to receive billions of dollars for clean energy projects

Apr 5, 2024
$20 billion in grants and loans will be forthcoming from the Biden Administration. It's hoped this will attract private investment too.
At least 70% of recent federal funding for "green banks" is going to clean energy projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Delays in Boeing deliveries bring voluntary unpaid time off for United's pilots

Apr 4, 2024
United and Southwest have also paused hiring because of the delivery delays. Higher airfares could be on the way.
United Airlines has paused its hiring of pilots and is offering pilots voluntary unpaid time off in May due to Boeing aircraft production issues.
Kevin Carter/Getty Images

Report says remote workers are getting little training on best practices

Apr 3, 2024
A consulting firm's report says more than 70% of workers haven't had training on managing remote workers or the best way to do so.
Four years into the pandemic, more than 70% of workers still haven’t gotten training on remote work best practices, a new report says.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

How would interest rate cuts affect your high-yield savings account?

Apr 2, 2024
With the Federal Reserve signaling it plans to cut rates up to three times this year, interest payments, and interest charges, are likely to drop.
While there are upsides for consumers when interest rates come down, high-yield savings accounts will likely offer lower rates too. Above, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

New FTC rule aims to crack down on impersonation scams

Apr 2, 2024
Posing as a bank or other trusted institution to cheat the public will be outlawed and the agency will get new tools to go after scammers.
Scammers often may already have lots of your personal information thanks to data breaches, allowing them to sound more convincing.
Ton Photograph/Getty Images