Jennifer Ludden

The debt-ceiling deal that Congress is considering adds work requirements for some people on food stamps. Researchers say the bigger issue is that the requirements don't actually help many find work.

A major point of contention in debt-ceiling negotiations is tougher work requirements for safety-net programs.

Businesses like Cook Medical in Indiana say the housing shortage makes it harder to recruit and keep middle-income workers. Now, more companies are building places for employees to rent or even buy.

Compensation for descendants of enslaved people is broadly controversial, and especially so among whites and Republicans. Researchers say one reason may be misperceptions about the racial wealth gap.

Pulitzer winner for Evicted Matthew Desmond examines why the U.S. has more poverty than other rich nations. He finds it spends big on social programs, but gives the most to those who need it least.

Black and Latinx homes are more likely to be undervalued by real estate appraisers, who are mostly older white men. New recruiting and technology aims to change how appraisals are done and by whom.

Accusations of racial bias are fueling changes in the home appraisal industry. Companies say modernizing the technology and data they use will help limit discrimination.

Real estate appraisers are overwhelmingly older, white and male. Now, with a growing body of research on racial bias in appraisals, there's a new push to bring in more diverse people.

American suburbs mandated single-family homes generations ago, often to segregate areas by race and class. New laws allow more-affordable options like townhomes but construction so far has been slow.

Single-family homes define America's suburbs, and they've been mandated by law for generations. Now some states and cities are changing that to try and create more affordable housing.

California is the latest in a string of states and cities to try and save renters money on repeated application fees. But legal aid attorneys say the laws are proving difficult to enforce.

In a tight and competitive housing market, the first barrier for many are rental application fees. States and cities have passed laws to limit them, but it's proving hard to enforce.

Ahead of the New Year's weekend, the airline said that Friday will see minimal disruptions after its slashed schedule stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers during a wintry holiday stretch.

Southwest isn't the only airline experiencing delays and cancellations, but it is by far the worst-hit, with about 5,500 of its flights canceled across the country in the last two days.

The Biden administration says to end the homelessness crisis, more must be done to keep people from losing housing in the first place. But identifying and reaching those most at risk is a challenge.

Voters in several cities approved ballot measures to cap rents, part of a larger resurgence of rent control. Economists warn that such caps can actually reduce affordable housing overall.

Gas prices got a lot of attention in the midterms, but high housing costs are a bigger chunk of people's budgets. In cities around the country, voters approved more spending on affordable housing.

Skyrocketing rents and home prices have been a major part of voters' economic pain. New spending will go toward building and subsidizing more housing, and helping people avoid homelessness.

A Cincinnati agency says large investors are taking some of the most affordable homes off the market, exacerbating the racial wealth gap. It's now helping its new tenants buy the homes themselves.

Given record high rents and low vacancy rates, housing providers are offering to match people up as roommates to get them off the streets. But it can be a tough sell for both renters and landlords.