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Middle class

Macy's isn't facing a retail apocalypse. It's facing a shrinking middle class.

by Kristin Schwab
Mar 6, 2024
Department stores were created to serve an income group that's declining while the poorer and wealthier cohorts expand.
Macy's is one of the retailers that have downsized in recent years. Gap, Foot Locker and Bed Bath & Beyond have also struggled. 
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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As student loan repayments are set to restart, the Education Department looks to ease the transition

by Samantha Fields
Jul 3, 2023
For one thing: the first year after payments restart, borrowers who fall behind won’t be penalized.
Student loan borrowers demand President Biden use "Plan B" to cancel student debt Immediately at a rally outside of the Supreme Court on June 30, 2023 in Washington, D.C.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for We The 45 Million
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I've Always Wondered ...

Is a growing middle class the real key to economic growth? 

by Janet Nguyen
Oct 14, 2022
Ideas are a key ingredient for economic growth. And to generate new ideas, you need … more people.
A reader wants to know if lower-income earners moving up the economic ladder can be an engine for growth.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Check Your Balance ™️

A tax refund is a lifeline for a lot of Americans

by Samantha Fields
Mar 4, 2020
Last year, after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 went into effect, a lot of people saw their tax refunds shrink or disappear.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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Check Your Balance ™️

As home prices rise in big cities, holding out hope of buying

by Samantha Fields
Feb 14, 2020
Home prices have become unaffordable, but many are still trying to buy.
A Homebuying 101 class at the Blackstone Community Center in Boston.
Samantha Fields/Marketplace
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Auto loans are taking longer to pay off

by Kai Ryssdal and Bennett Purser
Oct 2, 2019
That could hurt consumers but benefit banks and dealerships.
Ford F-150s are lined up at a dealership in Hudson, Wisconsin.
Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images
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Shelf Life

"Why can't I make ends meet? Why can't I make this math work?"

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Jun 28, 2018
In her new book, Alissa Quart examines the lives of middle-class families struggling to get by.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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Cutting the federal income tax rate is just a start, some economists say

by Andy Uhler
Nov 9, 2017
Gary Cohn, President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser, told CNBC this morning that it would be hard for the current tax bill to reduce federal tax rates further for a family earning median income without going into negative tax rates. But federal income tax is just one kind of tax that everyone pays.  Click the audio […]
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I went to the world's largest Applebee's to figure out why chain restaurants are dying

by Peter Balonon-Rosen
Oct 20, 2017
The decline of chain restaurants coincides with the growth in income disparities.
The second floor dining room at an Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar in Manhattan.
Peter Balonon-Rosen/Marketplace
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How African-Americans were 'shut out' of the American dream

by David Brancaccio and Janet Nguyen
Apr 25, 2017
Discriminatory employment and housing practices have made it difficult for black men and women to enter the middle class, according to a new documentary.
Kathy Region (L) and Jimmie Alvin with his dog, pimp, sit next to the shanty town going up next to their apartment complex in the Liberty City neighborhood in Miami, Florida. 
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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