Working Class Blues

For more than 30 years The Chicago Reporter has produced top-notch investigations of race and poverty issues. November's cover story, "Thin Margins," by Stacie Williams carries forward that proud tradition. By analyzing U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics data, Williams shows how the gap between what people are paid and what they need to survive is growing wider in the Chicago region, as I suspect it is doing in other areas. What makes the story especially effective are the anecdotes of working people, particularly minorities, who can't make ends meet even though they have earned college degrees. The Reporter's publisher, Alysia Tate, is a friend and former colleague of mine, but I have admired the publication's work even before she came aboard.
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