Some corporations are opening up their doors to providing more support for child care. Evgeniia Siiankovskaia/Getty Images hide caption
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A nurse practitioner fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the Beaumont Health offices in Southfield, Mich., on Nov. 5. Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Married at 15, Chakraman Shreshta Balami fulfilled his dying father's wish by getting married — at age 15. He had to give up his dream of becoming a doctor. Now the vice principal of Sri Bhavani government school, he campaigns against child marriage — but even his son was married as a teenager. Above, he poses with a grandchild. Stephanie Sinclair for NPR hide caption
The continuation of the child tax credit payments had depended on Congress passing the Build Back Better legislation before Friday. Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption
Regan Adams at her home in northeast Knoxville. Lynsey Weatherspoon for NPR hide caption
Home prices are up. For Black families, is selling Grandma's house the right choice?
Daisy Hohman was separated from her three children for 20 months when they were placed in foster care. When Hohman was reunited with her children, she received a bill of nearly $20,000 for foster care from her Minnesota county. Joseph Shapiro/NPR hide caption
States send kids to foster care and their parents the bill — often one too big to pay
A shopper shops at a retail store in Glenview, Ill., Dec. 16. The National Retail Federation, the nation's largest retail trade group, said this month that the holiday shopping season appears to be on pace to exceed its sales growth forecast of between 8.5% and 10.5% despite additional challenges this year, from a new variant of the coronavirus, to soaring inflation. Nam Y. Huh/AP hide caption
Selvi is a construction worker in Chennai, India. "My bones ache at night after carrying heavy loads through the day, my eyes sting from the dust and I cough often, but if I didn't do this, my kids and I would starve." she says. Kamala Thiagarajan for NPR hide caption
Sophomore Dreshon Robinson stands outside his high school cafeteria, where the learning hub takes place. He wants to go to college and be an audio engineer. Cornell Watson for NPR hide caption
Extra learning time is helping these students catch up from COVID interruptions
Ashli St. Armant, a.k.a. Jazzy Ash Courtesy of Mayers Consulting hide caption
Children's artist Jazzy Ash wraps up a busy year with new Christmas songs
A Cornell University student waits for a ride with luggage in tow at the campus in Ithaca, N.Y., Thursday, Dec. 16. Cornell University abruptly shut down all campus activities on Tuesday and moved final exams online after hundreds of students tested positive over three days. Heather Ainsworth/AP hide caption
Santa at the West Dallas Christmas Block Party Michelle Aslam/NPR hide caption
Black Santas are helping to change holiday icons and add more representation
"I could be out next week without a place to live," Mary Hunt worried when an NPR reporter visited. Hunt doesn't own the piece of land, making Havenpark Communities free to tell her to get out. Elaine Cromie for NPR hide caption
How the government helps investors buy mobile home parks, raise rent and evict people
We answered your questions on safety, loneliness and anxiety during the holidays
A Santa Claus in Germany wears a surgical mask in December 2020. If you're planning to take the kids to see Santa this year, experts say it's safest to keep everyone's masks on. Caroline Seidel/picture alliance via Getty Images hide caption
Jesus and Suzanne Valle thought they would become empty nesters indulging in their love of travel, but, she says, "I don't know if we would be as happy without all these kids." Jacqueline Van Meter for StoryCorps hide caption
They didn't plan to be a family of 17. Then, the opioid crisis hit their community
A preschooler reaches into her cubby at a preschool center in Mountlake Terrace, Wash. Journalist Claire Suddath says the U.S. child care industry is in need of an overhaul. Elaine Thompson/AP hide caption
As child care costs soar, providers are barely getting by. Is there any fix?
The idea of adoption as an alternative to abortion was thrust into the spotlight earlier this month as the Supreme Court considered a Mississippi law to restrict access to abortion. Ian Waldie/File photo/Getty Images hide caption
Yalonda Chandler homeschools her children, Madison and Matthew. She co-founded Black Homeschoolers of Birmingham, in Alabama, and has seen the organization grow since the pandemic began. Kyra Miles/WBHM hide caption
More Black families are homeschooling their children, citing the pandemic and racism
New York Times food writer Priya Krishna says Dorie Greenspan's World Peace 2.0 cookie are impossible to hate. Mark Weinberg/Mariner Books, an imprint of Harper Collins hide caption
Rose Wong for NPR Rose Wong for NPR hide caption