Poverty

Racial Discrimination
blog
Historic Lynchings and Voter Registration, China in Space, Firefighters' Mental Health: RAND Weekly Recap
Jul 30, 2021
This weekly recap focuses on the link between historic lynchings and voter registration, Afghanistan in the era of fentanyl, supporting firefighters’ mental health, and more.
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Police-Community Relations
essay
Rethinking How Police Respond to Homelessness
Mar 4, 2021
Around one-fifth of people experiencing homelessness have a severe mental health disorder. Almost as many have a substance-use disorder. Police need better policies and community partnerships to help make their response to homelessness safer, more humane, and more effective.
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Homeless Populations
commentary
Unaccompanied Women Become an Official Homeless Subpopulation in LA County
Alicia Revitsky Locker, Sierra Smucker, Aisha Najera Chesler
Nov 23, 2020
The RAND Blog
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.
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Homeless Populations
commentary
Access to Mobile Technology Could Help to Alleviate LA's Homelessness Crisis
Sarah B. Hunter, Rajeev Ramchand @RRamchand, Benjamin Henwood
Sep 16, 2020
The RAND Blog
The vast majority of people experiencing homelessness have cell phones, which often serve as their lifelines. Providing technological supports, such as Wi-Fi access and opportunities to charge devices, could result in better access to social services and, ultimately, better quality of life and outcomes.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
The Evidence on Kids and COVID-19, China's Use of Big Data, Telemedicine: RAND Weekly Recap
Sep 4, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on what we know (and what we don't) about kids and COVID-19, how China is using big data, the future of telemedicine, and more.
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Housing Markets
commentary
Declining Commercial Real Estate Demand May Provide an Opportunity to Help Address California's Housing Crisis
Jason M. Ward
Jul 20, 2020
CalMatters
The pandemic has led to an estimated 175,000 business closures this spring. And an estimated 40 percent of employed people are working from home full-time. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reallocate portions of the built environment toward the urgent demand for affordable housing.
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Child Health
commentary
COVID-19: Why Spending More Time at Home for Some Children Is Bad for Their Health
Andreas Culora
Jul 20, 2020
Open Access Government
Children in Europe are at a higher risk of poor-quality and overcrowded housing. Efforts to improve the quality of children's living environments could be key to mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on children and their households.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
Online Shopping, Living in a Riskier World, Stress in Communities: RAND Weekly Recap
Jul 10, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on Americans' online shopping habits during the pandemic, living in a riskier world, how stress builds in communities, and more.
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Domestic Violence
commentary
After COVID-19: Prevent Homelessness Among Survivors of Domestic Abuse
Sierra Smucker, Alicia Revitsky Locker, Aisha Najera Chesler
Jul 2, 2020
The RAND Blog
Without assistance, domestic violence survivors are more likely to be forced into homelessness. Now could be the time to invest in programs that help victims—before a second wave of COVID-19 cases pushes more families into unsafe environments.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
A Message from Our President and CEO, America's Wealth Gap, Disinformation: RAND Weekly Recap
Jun 5, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on doing more to address systemic inequalities and structural racism, paying the bills during COVID-19, America's growing wealth gap, and more.
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Residential Housing
commentary
From Lockdown to Locked Out: Coronavirus and the Looming Crisis in Rental Housing
Alina I. Palimaru, Jason M. Ward, Amy L. Shearer, Marcus Dillistone
Apr 30, 2020
Dallas Morning News
Housing security is vital to individual and collective well-being. It's also a key component in the nation's economic performance. The looming coronavirus eviction crisis suggests the need to address the systemic problem of housing affordability and security now.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
Medical Supply Shortfalls, Parenting Through the Pandemic, North Korea: RAND Weekly Recap
Apr 17, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on reducing medical supply shortfalls, understanding who's in charge during a pandemic, North Korea's nuclear blackmail, and more.
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Homeless Populations
commentary
Emergency Homeless Services During the COVID-19 Crisis
Aaron Clark-Ginsberg @aclarkginsberg, Sarah B. Hunter, Benjamin Henwood
Apr 7, 2020
The RAND Blog
The recently passed $2 trillion stimulus package includes a suite of measures designed to support households that are affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. But policymakers may want to consider what protections the package offers to a particularly high-risk group: people experiencing homelessness.
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commentary
Economic Experiments for Global Impact
Krishna B. Kumar @kbkumar_
Oct 23, 2019
The RAND Blog
Implementing effective solutions for global socioeconomic development and poverty alleviation is a daunting challenge. However, RAND has seen over its decades of work in this area that data-based decisions can improve the welfare of the world's most vulnerable populations.
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Community Health and Well-Being
essay
How Pittsburgh Is Addressing Social and Economic Disparities
Jul 2, 2019
Pittsburgh has been taking a hard look at race, wealth, and opportunity. In partnership with RAND, the city has run and published its numbers on subjects ranging from police contacts to business ownership to graduation rates as part of a commitment to do better.
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Homelessness
blog
ISIS, Homelessness, India's Election: RAND Weekly Recap
Jun 7, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on what can be done about ISIS detainees, a program that helps reduce homelessness, Modi's reelection in India, and more.
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Homelessness
essay
Supportive Housing Reduces Homelessness—and Lowers Health Care Costs by Millions
Jun 27, 2018
Los Angeles County has moved some of its most chronically homeless and vulnerable residents into permanent housing. Providing them with social services and health care has dramatically reduced their use of emergency rooms and other services, saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
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Poverty
commentary
Tackling EU Child Poverty Through a Child Guarantee
Joanna Hofman @JoannaBHofman, Katherine Stewart
May 21, 2018
EurActiv
Nearly 26.4 percent of children across the EU are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, poverty or social exclusion. The proposed Child Guarantee initiative might help address this issue. But it could also be worthwhile to encourage member states to look at funding mechanisms that are already in place.
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Homelessness
commentary
Housing for Health: Los Angeles County's Department of Health Tackles Homelessness with an Innovative Housing Program That Saves Money
Sarah B. Hunter
Jan 18, 2018
USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism
Los Angeles County's Housing for Health program addresses an important public health issue by providing housing and supportive services to some of the most vulnerable people in our community. The program also saves taxpayers money.
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Poverty
commentary
Fighting Poverty with Taxes
Patricia K. Tong
Nov 22, 2017
Council on Economic Policies
As the debate over tax reform continues, finding ways to help the most disadvantaged segment of the population should be considered. Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and outreach to low-income populations could increase incentive to file or promote awareness about benefits and generate positive impacts in the longer term.
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commentary
Trends in Inequality and the World's Eight Richest Men
Ernesto F. L. Amaral, Carter C. Price @CarterCPrice
Feb 10, 2017
U.S. News & World Report
While Oxfam reports have done a good job of bringing attention to the problem of inequality, they may lead the public and policymakers to believe that global inequality has been rising instead of falling. Global inequality has actually been on the decline while inequality within the developed world is increasing.
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commentary
Curbing Globalisation Won't Halt the Rise of Inequality
Stijn Hoorens @StijnHoorens
Dec 14, 2016
E!Sharp
Globalization may be one of many factors driving inequality. But ending trade agreements and throwing up trade barriers is unlikely to stop this trend.
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commentary
Book Review: 'Bourgeois Equality'
Charles Wolf, Jr.
Sep 30, 2016
The Weekly Standard
In Bourgeois Equality, economist and historian Deirdre McCloskey advances the theory that ideas — not capital, institutions, innovation, R&D, tax policy, monetary policy, or regulatory policy — are the propelling force behind economic and societal growth.
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Children
commentary
Are the Effects of the Economic Crisis Still Impacting Children in Europe?
Daniel Schweppenstedde, Barbara Janta, Fanny Gauttier
Feb 17, 2016
The RAND Blog
If EU member states do not invest in early childhood education and care now, negative long-term effects may follow in future years. Unfortunately, it might be the case that the fallout of the economic crisis is blocking some of the investments that need to be made.
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Africa
commentary
Africa Succeeds in Meeting Many Long-Term U.N. Development Goals
Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik
Dec 7, 2015
The RAND Blog
Over the past decade and half, Africa has made great strides toward meeting the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, eight objectives that included halving extreme poverty rates, providing universal primary education, and ending the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.
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Gender Equity in the Workplace
commentary
UK and Europe Are Behind the Times for Single Mothers and Their Children
Chloe E. Bird @ChloeBirdPhD, Kai Ruggeri
Mar 11, 2015
The RAND Blog
Single parents head 10.4 percent of households with children across Europe — 20.4 percent in the UK — and the socioeconomic gap between single- and two-parent households continues to grow. Accessible and flexible work policies are needed to improve employment conditions for single parents, especially mothers.
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commentary
Growth Versus Equality: Striking the Right Balance
Charles Wolf, Jr.
Jan 30, 2015
The Weekly Standard
There's a difficult trade-off between income equality and the growth that comes from successful innovation. But one doesn't have to overwhelm the other.
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Child Well-Being
commentary
The Time Is Ripe for Evidence-Based Child Policy in the UK
Barbara Janta
Nov 20, 2014
Open Policy Making
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and provides an opportunity to reflect on the progress that has been made and the challenges that remain. Even in the UK there are still children who live in poverty and inequality, who experience violence, and who are not afforded rights on par with their peers.
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commentary
Solutions for Youth Employment: New Coalition Takes on Pervasive, Persistent Global Problem
Haijing Crystal Huang, Nelly Josefina Mejia Gonzalez
Oct 17, 2014
The RAND Blog
Youth unemployment is a pervasive and persistent worldwide scourge: 75 million youth are unemployed now and that rate is expected to rise. RAND joined the World Bank, Accenture, International Youth Foundation, and others to form Solutions for Youth Employment, a unique coalition that acts to increase youth opportunities for productive employment.
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announcement
RAND Joins Coalition to Tackle Youth Unemployment
Oct 9, 2014
The RAND Corporation has joined the World Bank and other corporate and civil society leaders to establish Solutions for Youth Employment, a global coalition that acts to address the pervasive challenges of youth employment.
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commentary
New Survey Data Indicates Increasing Polarization in the Ways Democrats and Republicans View the Role of Government in Reducing Income Inequality
Katherine Grace Carman @KGCarman, Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard
Oct 9, 2014
The RAND Blog
Today, Democrats are more than six times likelier than Republicans to believe the U.S. government should play a role in reducing income inequality. This is not due to differences in age, gender, education, or income distributions among the two parties.
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Medicaid
q&a
Quick Takes: The Math of Medicaid Expansion
Oct 21, 2013
Expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is both contentious and complicated. RAND mathematician Carter Price has been using the COMPARE model to help those making decisions understand what their choices mean for their budgets and population health.
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Child Welfare
commentary
Investing in Children
Barbara Janta
May 31, 2013
The RAND Blog
The historic objective of Children's Day — celebrated in many European countries on the first day of June — was not simply to celebrate children for who they are, but to bring attention to children around the world who suffer from exploitation, violence, and discrimination.
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Developing Countries
commentary
Book Review: 'Why Nations Fail' by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
Warren Bass
Apr 24, 2012
The Washington Post
'Why Nations Fail' is a sweeping attempt to explain the gut-wrenching poverty that leaves 1.29 billion people in the developing world struggling to live on less than $1.25 a day. You might expect it to be a bleak, numbing read. It's not. It's bracing, garrulous, wildly ambitious and ultimately hopeful, writes Warren Bass.
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Maritime Piracy
commentary
On Dry Land - The Onshore Drivers of Piracy
Peter Chalk, Laurence Smallman
Jul 3, 2009
Jane's Intelligence Review online
Piracy is a growing international problem, primarily around the Horn of Africa. The international response has been largely military in nature and focused exclusively on the maritime theatre, ignoring key land drivers of piracy, which will resurface once the military actions end, write Peter Chalk and Laurence Smallman.
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commentary
Help for Homeless Women
Suzanne L. Wenzel
Jun 16, 2006
Washingtonpost.com
Published commentary by RAND staff: Help for Homeless Women, in Washingtonpost.com.
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commentary
Lessons for the War on Terrorism
Robert A. Levine
Jul 26, 2002
International Herald Tribune
Published commentary by RAND staff.
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commentary
Want to Help Africa? Stop Farm Subsidies
Carl Bildt
Jun 18, 2002
Wall Street Journal
Published commentary by RAND staff.
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