Contributor: Minneapolis Fed

Picture of pre-school aged children playing in classroom setting
By Fed Communities Staff
Families want quality early childhood education (ECE) but it’s often competitive to access and costly, especially for care during nontraditional hours. Providers face financial constraints of their own. What does recent research reveal? Watch or listen on demand.
A diverse group of preschoolers in a classroom.
By Benjamin Horowitz
Affordable, high-quality child care can be difficult for parents to access. Here is what Fed researchers have learned about supply constraints and demand challenges that hinder equitable access to quality child care.
2022 Perspectives from Main Street Survey Findings
By Nishesh Chalise, Violeta Gutkowski, Heidi Kaplan
This report offers findings of a survey designed to collect information on the effects of COVID-19 on low- to moderate-income people and communities and the entities serving them in 2022.
A retired couple watches Alta Lake in Whistler, Canada
By Liz Duda
Most people want to retire to pursue other interests or when they reach normal retirement age. But life events often play a role.
Rural Native Town at foothills of mountain range
By Andrew Dumont, Andrew Huff
By centering their traditional values in their economies and ways of life, many Native communities in the United States are making progress towards higher levels of prosperity.
Nurse answers phone at reception desk
By Mary Hogan, Benjamin Horowitz, Ryan Nunn
Reforms can improve the rules of the labor market, helping workers and strengthening the economy.
Occupational licensing may keep foreign-born doctors from practicing medicine in the US
By Tyler Boesch, Ryan Nunn
From EMTs to lawyers, hair stylists to teachers, nearly a quarter of US jobs require a professional license. How can we make it easier for qualified workers to secure those jobs?
Woman looks over grocery bill at kitchen table
By Kuma Okoro
New research tells us that inflation may impact different people in different ways. People's experiences with rising prices depend on where they live, how much they earn, and how they spend.
Grand Opening, Frogtown Square, 2011
By Jennifer Wilding
Experience Investment Connection—from pitch to impact—with small business owners, community organizers, and bankers, and the Federal Reserve community development experts bringing them together.
Perspectives from Main Street
By Nishesh Chalise, Violeta Gutkowski
The spread of COVID-19 and the many efforts to slow it are impacting communities throughout the nation. To best respond to this crisis, information is needed about the scope and scale of challenges in various communities. This report offers findings of a survey designed to collect information on the effects of COVID-19 on low- to moderate-income people and communities and the entities serving them. The survey was fielded by eight national partners and the Federal Reserve System's community development function.