Samantha Fields

Senior Reporter

SHORT BIO

Samantha Fields is a senior reporter at Marketplace.

She’s particularly interested in how the economy affects people’s everyday lives, and a lot of her coverage focuses on economic inequality, housing and climate change.

She’s also reported and produced for WCAI and The GroundTruth Project, the “NPR Politics Podcast,” NPR’s midday show, “Here & Now,” Vermont Public Radio and Maine Public Radio. She got her start in journalism as a reporter for a community paper, The Wellesley Townsman, and her start in radio as an intern and freelance producer at “The Takeaway” at WNYC. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Latest Stories (537)

Pandemic relief package includes spending aimed at reducing food insecurity

Mar 15, 2021
Some measures directly target food insecurity, like the extension of a SNAP benefit increase. Others are more indirect.
One in eight people in the United States may experience food insecurity this year, according to a projection from hunger relief organization Feeding America.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Shuttered venue owners say federal aid could be a curtain raiser

Mar 12, 2021
The new pandemic relief package includes another $1.25 billion for concert venues, theaters and other spaces that do live events.
None of the recent federal aid has been distributed yet. But the fact that it’s been approved has the industry hopeful. Pictured: The iconic Metro concert venue sits empty in Chicago, Illinois, on Dec. 29, 2020.
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images

Films led by Black off-screen talent are consistently underfunded, study finds

Mar 11, 2021
A McKinsey & Company report finds that addressing racial inequities in entertainment could bring in another $10 billion a year.
Only about 6% of writers, directors and producers who work on films made in the U.S. are Black, and that number has barely budged in 15 years, according to a report from McKinsey & Company.
EvgeniyShkolenko via Getty Images

A second location? During a pandemic? It’s within reach for some businesses

Mar 10, 2021
A business owner in Brooklyn who almost went under last year is now looking to expand in a way she hadn't expected.
Pooja Bavishi at her Brooklyn ice cream shop, Malai. When she had to close for several months, her online sales surged.
Samantha Fields/Marketplace

COVID relief package includes about $40 billion in child care funding

Mar 10, 2021
The bill includes money to help cover providers' operating expenses, as the sector tries to recover from pandemic losses.
Nearly $15 billion would help fund child care for low-income families, and about $24 billion would go to child care providers to help cover operating expenses.
RainStar via Getty Images

What might consumers do with both a tax refund and pandemic relief money?

Mar 9, 2021
Those who have already paid off debt and built up their savings may be ready to spend tax refund money.
NoDerog via Getty Images

As rent comes due, millions of Americans are already thousands behind

Mar 1, 2021
So where's the $25 billion in rental relief approved in the last COVID-19 relief package?
"Very little" of the $25 billion in rental assistance approved by Congress has reached renters and landlords, a housing coalition CEO says.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Could your emergency savings pay off your credit card debt?

Feb 25, 2021
More than half of Americans say their emergency savings could pay off their credit card debt, according to a recent poll.
Ridofranz via Getty Images

For Texas small businesses, the storm's yet another trial

Feb 23, 2021
Some pivoted to help their communities. Others have received support from their customers.
The freeze has imposed a major setback on Texas businesses that depend on farming.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Immigration bill would create expedited citizenship path for some farmworkers

Feb 19, 2021
Farmworkers who can show they’ve worked at least 400 work days in the last five years would be eligible for a faster track.
David McNew/AFP via Getty Images