Rachel Wolfe’s Post

My first story as an economics reporter at The Wall Street Journal is out today on the cover of the Saturday Exchange section! If you have a second this weekend to give it a read, I promise it'll be worth your while. It's about why 2024 is the summer of women doing it all—and paying the price. When my new colleague Justin Lahart discovered that women's labor force participation rates had not only come back from a steep Covid decline, but actually reached new heights, we knew we wanted to write about it. But as I started chatting with working moms—who comprise a large chunk of those entering or returning to labor market—I realized the story is more complicated. While this milestone is great for the economy and for women's household incomes, it's more complicated for their lives. The same work-from-home opportunities that have enabled women to enter or rejoin the workforce in record numbers are also shackling them with record responsibilities. Many say they are effectively working two full-time jobs: managing their households and their careers.  As a ~working woman~ I'm particularly proud to get this one published and to hopefully help further this important conversation! Read the story (without a paywall) and let me know what you think and if you can relate! https://lnkd.in/gCvxyuXi

📣🧀 Calling all Cheeseheads/Wisconsinites/Milwaukee-ans 🧀 📣  I’m going to be in the Milwaukee area from Monday through Wednesday for a story, and I want to talk housing with as many locals as possible 🏠 Looking to meet up with people while I’m there who are: 1) ⬆️ Facing higher rents 2) ⏯️ Struggling to buy their first houses 3) 🧑🧑🧒🧒 Squished in starter homes If you live in the city or somewhere nearby (like Racine or Ozaukee)…or you might be able to connect me with someone who does…I want to hear from you!! My DMs are open, and I’m also reachable at rachel.wolfe@wsj.com Thank you so much in advance!!

To cap off my first week on the Economics beat, I'm re-upping the mailing list I use to solicit sources for my stories. The best ~new job present~ I could ask for is adding yourself to it! I'm supposed to become an expert on figuring out how the economy affects consumers and how we impact the economy. I can't do that, however, without making sure my stories represent as diverse an array of perspectives as possible. This list is one of a few different ways I try to do that. Since I don't typically accept press pitches, my mailing list is also the best way to float new research, clients, businesses and ideas for inclusion, but it's not just for PR pros. 📧 How it works: I send out queries every few weeks or so looking for anecdotes, data and expert perspectives that support (or potentially refute) a story about the economy I'm pursuing. I've previously asked to chat with do-nothing vacationers, forever renters, surprise fee haters, sober daters and much, much more. I'm usually looking for real people who've experienced the phenomenon, as well as related companies, relevant data and experts with specific insight or expertise into whatever I'm writing about. 🤝 Who should join: Anyone who has ever bought or sold something! Also looking to grow my database of academics, analysts and economists, especially those who focus on consumer behavior. 📱 What happens if you respond to a query: If you or someone you've connected me with is a fit, we'll schedule a 15-ish minute phone or video interview. I'll need to include a full name, age, profession and location. ✔️ What I need from you: To add your name and email to the Google Form below. That's it! Please share this post/send the form around widely. I'm so grateful to everyone already on here and can't wait for part two: The new economy!

I’ve been known to stretch the limits of what belongs in a LinkedIn post, but this time I actually do have a big #JobUpdate to share: It’s my first day as an Economics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal!! “Wait, weren’t you already doing that?” you might be asking yourself if you’re anything like the friends I’ve excitedly told. Not quite! I started as a General Assignment reporter in the Journal’s Life & Work bureau a little over two years ago, which my incredible editors Adam Thompson, Nikki Waller, Geoffrey Rogow & Bourree Lam helped me parlay into a beat covering consumer behavior. I loved every second of it. But now, I’m going to be writing more broadly about all the ways consumers shape the economy and the economy shapes our lives. My stories will seek to understand themes like why people don’t feel like they’re benefitting from a generally strong economy, the ramifications of growing inequality and widespread feelings of stuck-ness and apathy as key parts of the American Dream (including homeownership and parenthood) slip out of reach for broader swaths of the population. Amid an election in which the economy is shaping up to be perhaps *the* voting issue, I’m particularly excited to focus for the next six months on the role of consumers as voters. I can’t wait to learn from the kick-ass editors and reporters on the Finance team, including Marie Beaudette and my new boss Tammy Audi (whose first day back at the Journal also happens to be today!!) The best way to stay up to date with what I’m working on and to pitch ideas for inclusion in one of my stories about the economy will still be my mailing list (which I’m always growing). If you're a consumer, an economist, a business owner, a PR pro or just curious, you should sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gx7NRdsu I can't wait to get started!

Months of reporting with one of my absolute favorite colleagues at The Wall Street Journal (and humans on this earth) Rachel Louise Ensign culminated in today's front page whopper about why empty nesters are holding onto the majority of the country's big homes. For this one, we wanted to figure out why so many Boomers are staying put rather than downsizing. We were also curious about the role this reality is playing in keeping housing inventory tight in a market where higher interest rates and steep prices are making homeownership less affordable for the average family. The numbers don't lie: About 28% of all U.S. homes with three or more bedrooms are owned by people between the ages of 60 and 78 living by themselves or with another adult, according to Redfin. Millennials living with children own just 14% of these bigger homes. A recent Fannie Mae survey found that most Americans 60 and older don’t intend to ever move. Boomers also own half of all of the $32 trillion in home equity in the U.S. But the factors driving this dichotomy and the ways older homeowners are disincentivized from selling surprised even us. “You would think our entire generation would have all moved out by now,” Richard Brooks told me of how his Westwood, Ma., neighborhood went from being all young families to now largely empty nest boomers like him and his wife. & just one extra shoutout to Rachel, who I've been lucky enough to write a ton with in recent months and who has tremendously improved the quality of my work life and my Life Life by being part of it. Read the story (without a paywall) to read more: https://lnkd.in/g2a-57zA

I've written a lot about how the upside down housing market is trapping people in their homes and rentals. This week's signs that interest rates will stay high for a lot longer than previously predicted felt like the perfect time for a follow-up. Along with my amazing colleagues at The Wall Street Journal Imani Moise and Joe Pinsker, I reported on how this could be the moment people give up their dreams of homeownership for good. (Or at least for the foreseeable future.) Take Annie Dartt in Ashville, Ohio, who moved into a rental with her husband and three kids in 2021 for what they were thought would only be a year. “We thought the situation would have improved by now,” Annie told me. “Interest rates were predicted to go down, but they haven’t.” She says she's incredibly frustrated that, despite great jobs and all the best planning, they feel further from owning a home than ever. Down the street, her sister Courtney Johnson feels similarly trapped. She and her husband were extremely motivated to upsize after spending quarantine in their small home and having a third child. “Now we’re looking at the market and we’re like, 'no.'" Courtney told me. "My interest rate is 3.25, why would I pay almost triple that?" Read the story (without a paywall): https://lnkd.in/duBwHsXW

Had a great time on CBS News prime time last night talking with anchor John Dickerson about my latest for The Wall Street Journal, a story that's particularly near and dear to my heart. ICYMI, I wrote about how emergency help line operators are being inundated with calls from those above the poverty line. Spending a day at a 211 call center outside Hartford, Conn., operated by United Way showed me that these workers are secretly some of the country's savviest predictors of economic trends. They raised alarm bells about a baby formula shortage ahead of the headlines about empty shelves. And they knew that families were defaulting on their mortgages before the subprime collapse in 2008.   Now, even as the economy looks healthy by many measures, 211 workers told me that they are hearing something concerning: more people living very close to poverty than the federal poverty line suggests. The share of households below the census-designated FPL has barely budged since 2010. Meanwhile, poverty researchers say a large and fast-growing group of people are earning too much to qualify for social services and not enough to afford the basics where they live.  The gap in our understanding of what poverty in America actually looks like helps explain the broader disconnect between positive economic signs like today's strong jobs report and deeply unhappy consumers.  This story focuses on the challenges facing this under-represented group, and how the country is failing them.  “We wonder why there’s so much anger in public discourse today, and it’s in part because of the stress people feel to just keep themselves and their families afloat,” says Lisa Tepper Bates, president of United Way of Connecticut. “People feel like the system is not serving them.”  Watch the CBS News clip: https://lnkd.in/gHfYsTZ9 Read the WSJ story (without a paywall): https://lnkd.in/gBVWR77R

I'm proud of most of what I write for The Wall Street Journal, but my latest story about the real poverty gap crushing millions of Americans holds a special place in my heart. If you have a few minutes today, I would really appreciate you giving it a read (the link below is un-paywalled) and sharing it with your networks :) For this one, I got the chance to spend the day at a 211 call center outside Hartford, Conn., where workers have a unique window into the problems households are facing. Operators at 211 emergency helplines, for example, raised alarm bells about a baby formula shortage ahead of the headlines about empty shelves. And they knew families were defaulting on their mortgages before the subprime collapse in 2008.   Now, even as the economy looks healthy by many measures, 211 workers say they are hearing something concerning: more people living very close to poverty than the federal poverty line suggests. The share of households below the census-designated FPL has barely budged since 2010. Meanwhile, poverty researchers say a large and fast-growing group of people are earning too much to qualify for social services and not enough to afford the basics where they live. The gap in our understanding of what poverty in America actually looks like helps explain the broader disconnect between positive economic signs like today's strong jobs report and deeply unhappy consumers. This story focuses on the challenges facing this under-represented group, and how the country is failing them. “We wonder why there’s so much anger in public discourse today, and it’s in part because of the stress people feel to just keep themselves and their families afloat,” says Lisa Tepper Bates, president of United Way of Connecticut. “People feel like the system is not serving them.” Read the story (without a paywall):

Whenever I talk to recent and soon-to-be college grads about journalism, I always feel amazed and inspired by their talent and ideas—and frustrated by my inability to connect them with Actual Jobs. No longer!! The Wall Street Journal is starting a 2-year news associates program for young journalists, and I couldn't be gladder. I started my time at the Journal as an editorial assistant myself—though it appears my early experience included a lot more photocopying and delivery cart-pushing than this crop's will. Happy to chat about what it's like to work here if you're interested in applying 🙃