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)

Will January bring more hiring?

Jan 8, 2021
The latest COVID relief package will have a positive effect on the economy as soon as this month.
A waiter at the outdoor dining area of a restaurant in New York last year.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

New rule lets companies treat some employees as gig workers

Jan 7, 2021
Usually there are lots of benefits and protections that come with being an employee instead of a gig worker, like being paid the minimum wage.
An Uber Eats delivery worker rides an electric scooter in Manhattan in 2020.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Marriage and divorce are way down, study suggests

Jan 6, 2021
Divorce is expensive, and many couples may not have the economic resources right now to split up.
Divorce is expensive, and right now, a lot of people don't have that money to spend.
Morakot Kawinchan via Getty Images

The latest pandemic relief measure increases SNAP benefits

Jan 5, 2021
Advocates say the food assistance increase should help reduce food insecurity for households that qualify.
The increase in SNAP benefits, plus an additional $300 a month in federal unemployment benefits, should help reduce food insecurity.
Scott Heins/Getty Images

Congress lets paid sick, family and medical leave mandate expire

Jan 1, 2021
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act required many employers to offer COVID-related paid sick and family leave. Not anymore.
A medical worker administers a coronavirus test at a drive-thru site in Washington, D.C., last year.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Has 2020's spike in support for Black-owned business carried through to the holidays?

Dec 24, 2020
The pandemic has been hard on Black-owned businesses.
Courtesy Tiffany Griffin

Consumer spending and personal income fell. That's bad news for the economy

Dec 23, 2020
With stimulus checks long gone and unemployment benefits running out, many consumers are less willing to spend.
Shoppers wearing protective masks are seen at Hudson Yards on Nov. 27, 2020, in New York.
Jeenah Moon/Getty Images

Doctors are leaving medicine because of the pandemic

Dec 18, 2020
Eight percent of doctors have closed their practices because of COVID-19, and a quarter are considering retiring early.
“It feels like the water I was swimming in has turned into molasses,” said one doctor of working during the pandemic.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Losing a job hasn't translated to losing health care — so far

Dec 16, 2020
Most people who've lost jobs during the pandemic didn't get health insurance at work.
Doctors test hospital staff at a triage center in New York early in the pandemic.
Misha Friedman/Getty Images

Hyundai reportedly buying robot-maker Boston Dynamics

Dec 10, 2020
If the deal goes through, it would be the third time in seven years that Boston Dynamics has been bought.
People take pictures and videos of Spot, Boston Dynamics' robot dog, during a presentation on the last day of the Web Summit in Lisbon in 2019.
Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images