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Changing the Story of Inequality in America

The Economic Hardship Reporting Project is a nonpartisan nonprofit devoted to immersive journalism about economic struggle. We support articles, photography, audio and video. We seek to commission pieces from journalists who are themselves financially on the edge and can speak from their own experience. We work with our contributors to develop and edit their stories, and shepherd them into major national publications. Follow us as we report on an unseen America. 

 

Header image by Carlos Javier Ortiz

 

Featured Stories

Featured Stories

Homeless in the Shadow of Santa Barbara’s Mansions
Multimedia Housing, Inequality, Safe Parking, Santa Barbara Jennifer Dworkin Comment
Multimedia Housing, Inequality, Safe Parking, Santa Barbara Jennifer Dworkin Comment
Homeless in the Shadow of Santa Barbara’s Mansions
Multimedia Housing, Inequality, Safe Parking, Santa Barbara Jennifer Dworkin Comment
Multimedia Housing, Inequality, Safe Parking, Santa Barbara Jennifer Dworkin Comment

Jennifer Dworkin

MULTIMEDIA | ANALYSIS

Co-published with The Nation. For hundreds of families, home is a car in a quiet parking lot.

Multimedia Housing, Inequality, Safe Parking, Santa Barbara Jennifer Dworkin Comment
Multimedia Housing, Inequality, Safe Parking, Santa Barbara Jennifer Dworkin Comment
Single Moms Shouldn’t Have to Choose Between Child Care and Getting an Education
Analysis Education, Motherhood Natalie Pattillo Comment
Analysis Education, Motherhood Natalie Pattillo Comment
Single Moms Shouldn’t Have to Choose Between Child Care and Getting an Education
Analysis Education, Motherhood Natalie Pattillo Comment
Analysis Education, Motherhood Natalie Pattillo Comment

Natalie Pattillo 

ANALYSIS

Co-published with The Cut. Why are universities so unfriendly to single moms?

 

Analysis Education, Motherhood Natalie Pattillo Comment
Analysis Education, Motherhood Natalie Pattillo Comment
Every Year the Tree
Melissa Chadburn Comment
Melissa Chadburn Comment
Every Year the Tree
Melissa Chadburn Comment
Melissa Chadburn Comment

Melissa Chadburn

ESSAYS

Co-published with Lenny Letter. During a chaotic coming-of-age, a Christmas tree was a symbol of hope and love.

Melissa Chadburn Comment
Melissa Chadburn Comment
Off Our Butts: How Smoking Bans Extinguish Solidarity
Culture Smoking, Working poor, Culture June Thunderstorm Comment
Culture Smoking, Working poor, Culture June Thunderstorm Comment
Off Our Butts: How Smoking Bans Extinguish Solidarity
Culture Smoking, Working poor, Culture June Thunderstorm Comment
Culture Smoking, Working poor, Culture June Thunderstorm Comment

June Thunderstorm

CULTURE

Co-published with The Baffler. Anti-smoking legislation is, and always has been, about social control.

Culture Smoking, Working poor, Culture June Thunderstorm Comment
Culture Smoking, Working poor, Culture June Thunderstorm Comment
The Criminalization of Black Homelessness
Analysis Homelessness, Civil Rights, Criminalization, Systemic Racism, Racial Profiling Ebony Slaughter-Johnson Comment
Analysis Homelessness, Civil Rights, Criminalization, Systemic Racism, Racial Profiling Ebony Slaughter-Johnson Comment
The Criminalization of Black Homelessness
Analysis Homelessness, Civil Rights, Criminalization, Systemic Racism, Racial Profiling Ebony Slaughter-Johnson Comment
Analysis Homelessness, Civil Rights, Criminalization, Systemic Racism, Racial Profiling Ebony Slaughter-Johnson Comment

Ebony Slaughter-Johnson

ANALYSIS

Co-published with Alternet. White supremacy systematically creates poverty with one hand while violently punishing it with the other.

Analysis Homelessness, Civil Rights, Criminalization, Systemic Racism, Racial Profiling Ebony Slaughter-Johnson Comment
Analysis Homelessness, Civil Rights, Criminalization, Systemic Racism, Racial Profiling Ebony Slaughter-Johnson Comment
Graffiti Taught Me Grit
Essays Graffiti, Motherhood, Poverty, Consent, Womanhood, Art Alison Stine Comment
Essays Graffiti, Motherhood, Poverty, Consent, Womanhood, Art Alison Stine Comment
Graffiti Taught Me Grit
Essays Graffiti, Motherhood, Poverty, Consent, Womanhood, Art Alison Stine Comment
Essays Graffiti, Motherhood, Poverty, Consent, Womanhood, Art Alison Stine Comment

Alison Stine

ESSAYS

Co-Published with Lenny Letter. How becoming a single mom in a depressed town helped one woman let go of perfection.

Essays Graffiti, Motherhood, Poverty, Consent, Womanhood, Art Alison Stine Comment
Essays Graffiti, Motherhood, Poverty, Consent, Womanhood, Art Alison Stine Comment
Faith and its Limits
Culture Health Care, Faith, Religion, Anabaptists, Motherhood Ann Neumann Comment
Culture Health Care, Faith, Religion, Anabaptists, Motherhood Ann Neumann Comment
Faith and its Limits
Culture Health Care, Faith, Religion, Anabaptists, Motherhood Ann Neumann Comment
Culture Health Care, Faith, Religion, Anabaptists, Motherhood Ann Neumann Comment

Ann Neumann  and James Sprankle

CULTURE

Co-Published with the Virginia Quarterly Review. If faith fosters separateness, how do you navigate healthcare for your children? A #VQRTrueStory essay. 

Culture Health Care, Faith, Religion, Anabaptists, Motherhood Ann Neumann Comment
Culture Health Care, Faith, Religion, Anabaptists, Motherhood Ann Neumann Comment
American Ballad: A Photographic Chronicle of America's Working Poor
Articles Rural Life, Working poor, Inequality Dale Maharidge Comment
Articles Rural Life, Working poor, Inequality Dale Maharidge Comment
American Ballad: A Photographic Chronicle of America's Working Poor
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