-
It's no surprise that Democrats are pushing the equal pay issue: It's a political winner among women. But the economics behind the current inequity and the challenges of righting it are complicated.
-
The pay equity issue, which President Obama and Democrats are using as a central campaign theme, could also gain traction with male voters.
-
People are having a harder time moving toward the places with the most economic opportunity. High cost of living is driving them to cheaper places, where job options are more limited.
-
The tipped minimum wage has been stuck at $2.13 an hour since 1991. In states where servers make more than the federal minimum wage, restaurants haven't been hurting.
-
The populist issue of income inequality will get a full airing in President Obama's fifth State of the Union speech. But immigration could run a close second in a speech designed to advance the president's second-term agenda.
-
For decades, the Supreme Court ruled that laws regulating things like wages and working conditions were unconstitutional. That changed during the Great Depression, when one of the justices switched sides, paving the way for the Fair Labor Standards Act.
-
Federal regulators are cracking down on banks that are offering services called deposit advances. Many argue that the service is the same as payday loans and could lead consumers into a cycle of debt.
-
The regulation, part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, is one of two measures of the act that the SEC has yet to implement.
-
The good news: Median household incomes didn't decline in 2012. Bad news: Incomes didn't go up, either.
-
There were 46.5 million Americans below the poverty line last year, the Census Bureau says, vs. 46.2 million in 2011. In another sign that the economy's recent growth hasn't translated into better times for many Americans, Census said the median household income was $51,017, vs. 2011's $51,100."