The United States is facing an unprecedented crisis. As we work toward recovery, it is counterproductive to keep tariffs in place that hinder economic growth. Removing these trade barriers would lower costs for businesses and increase affordability for families during the recession. It would also stimulate economic growth, helping to create jobs and boost the labor market recovery.
The issue of child care touches a bundle of related issues that reflect how we value family life and work. All parents face different trade-offs in making decisions that intersect with this Project’s goals of making it more affordable to raise a family, connecting people to work, and investing in youth.
Feb 02 2021
What’s Next for Schools: Balancing the Costs of School Closures Against COVID-19 Health Risks
The COVID-19 pandemic altered the lives of every family in America and particularly affected American families with school-aged children. In March 2020, every school district in the country closed and transitioned to remote learning, and this posed new challenges for parents, teachers, and students. The virus persisted throughout the fall and winter, and so have the associated challenges for families and children.
Though a new year brings with it the hope for a better future, the COVID-19 pandemic inflicted incalculable pain and loss over the past year. That pain and loss came in a variety of forms, including a rise in drug overdoses. The opioid epidemic, already on a virulent upswing immediately prior to the pandemic, continued to swell.
With the spread of COVID-19 across the United States, 2020 has been a bleak year for many Americans. The JEC has discussed the adverse effect of COVID-19 on employment and mental health, suggesting that feeling disconnected, stressed, and mentally unwell can lead to other dangerous consequences. In fact, evidence suggests that COVID-19 may have led to a rise in domestic violence (DV).
Early in the pandemic, it became clear that seniors are among the groups most at-risk for experiencing adverse health outcomes due to COVID-19.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging the strength of some marriage and family relationships, the American Family Survey indicates marriages and families in America are doing well and may be stronger in some ways than before the pandemic started.
Discussions of COVID-19 policy have often centered around two metrics: robust economic performance, as measured by GDP, and public health, as measured by deaths attributable to COVID-19. Places that do better on either metric, or both, are often judged to have had a better policy response than those that do worse. While this mode of analysis can be useful, there are reasons for caution.
Oct 21 2020
A Case for Thoughtful Reopening: The Value of Work and Mental Health Impacts of Unemployment
As states continue to move forward weighing the costs and benefits of reopening, it is important to not only consider the economic and health consequences, but also how government shutdowns harm Americans’ mental health due to a loss of income, work, and social connections.
Oct 05 2020
Cars, Kids, and Unintended Costs
Policy analysts on both the left and right are increasingly giving attention to the implications of falling birth rates and considering policies to reverse them.
