The RAND Blog

commentary

Women Are Leaving the Labor Force in Record Numbers

The economic downturn during the pandemic is affecting women workers measurably more than men. There were 2.2 million fewer women in the labor force in October 2020 than there were last October. Investing in childcare and expanding labor laws could keep women employed and buoy the entire economy.

Kathryn A. Edwards

commentary

Will Thanksgiving Be a National Super-Spreader Event?

Whether or not Thanksgiving will become a national super-spreader event will depend on the size of individual holiday gatherings across the country and the rate of COVID-19 cases in each community. December could be a grim month if people don't stay home on Thanksgiving.

Carter C. Price @CarterCPrice

commentary

Unaccompanied Women Become an Official Homeless Subpopulation in LA County

Unaccompanied homeless women are more likely than other subgroups to be chronically homeless, to have mental illness, and to have work limitations. Los Angeles County is now recognizing these women as a subgroup in the official homeless count. An assessment will also be conducted to identify this group's unique needs.

Alicia Revitsky Locker, Sierra Smucker, et al.

announcement

RAND Is Accepting Applications for Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowships

RAND is accepting applications for up to three Stanton Nuclear Security Fellows. The application deadline is January 19, 2021. The program was created to stimulate the development of the next generation of thought leaders on nuclear security.

blog

Schools and COVID-19, Health Care Resources, Leaving Afghanistan: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on allocating scarce but lifesaving resources during a pandemic, insights from America’s educators, the lopsided telework revolution, and more.

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Putting America's Civic Infrastructure on the Biden-Harris Agenda

Much like our bridges and roads, America's civic infrastructure has been allowed to crumble. This has allowed Truth Decay to set in. The new administration can begin to repair the deep fissures in our society by explicitly and implicitly rehabilitating the nation's civic infrastructure.

Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich, Jennifer Kavanagh

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Community College Enrollment Is Way Down. That Could Be Bad for Economic Recovery

Enrollment at America's community colleges is down by nearly 10 percent compared with before the pandemic, leaving community colleges in a perilous financial position. Without intervention, these institutions may not weather the storm.

Jenna W. Kramer @j_w_kramer, Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson, et al.

commentary

North Korea: Seeking Influence on President-Elect Biden

North Korea's past post-election provocation patterns suggest that the United States might have days to weeks before the North's first provocations. The Biden team might consider actions to convince Kim Jong-un that provocations will hurt him.

Bruce W. Bennett @bwbennett

commentary

Disaster Reporting and Its Impacts on Policy and Inequities

Disaster news tropes may capture audience attention, but they ultimately frustrate progress in mitigating the short- and long-term effects of disasters on communities. It's more important than ever that news stories about disasters frame the effects of environmental phenomena in meaningful ways.

Aaron Clark-Ginsberg @aclarkginsberg, Shearon Roberts

commentary

The Lopsided Telework Revolution

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a transition to telework, protecting the jobs and the health of those whose work can be performed remotely. Creative policies in a post-pandemic world are needed to help more broadly distribute the benefits of increased remote work.

Jason M. Ward @jason_m_ward, M. Rebecca Kilburn

blog

Veterans Day, Psychedelic Drug Policy, Family Caregivers: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on supporting veterans with mental health and substance use disorders, changes to psychedelic drug policy, the vital role of family caregivers, and more.

commentary

Primary Care Networks in a Time of Pandemic

Primary care networks in the UK bring together general practices and community providers to develop new services for patients and to provide better integration of health and social care services and sustainability in primary care. While still relatively new, their trajectory is likely to be influenced by COVID-19–related adaptations they have made over the course of the pandemic.

Sarah Parkinson, Judith Smith

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What Influences Quality Improvement Processes in Health Care?

Periods of rapid change offer both opportunities and challenges for health care quality improvement. Understanding the building blocks that need to be in place to support improvement processes may help those seeking to embed improvement capabilities and capacity into their organisations, both as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Gemma-Claire Ali, Emily Ryen Gloinson, et al.

commentary

Being Mindful About Changing Psychedelic Policy in California

The question for California isn't really if psychedelic policy will change, but more likely how—and how quickly. Now is the time for the California State Legislature to consider holding hearings on psychedelics and creating a commission to assess regulatory options.

Bryce Pardo, Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer

blog

Now You Can Play RAND Games at Home

RAND is famous for its Pentagon wargames. Now the public can play defense analyst, too. In RAND's new game, Hedgemony, players create a military strategy to allocate troops and resources and hedge against the unknown.