Return-to-Work Programs and Policies

commentary

National Security and Workplace Flexibility Aren't Incompatible After All

For years, the U.S. Defense Department dismissed workplace flexibility as being incompatible with national security. But during the pandemic, flexibility became a matter of survival for all employers, including Defense. The question now is whether it will keep recent adaptations or go back to its rigid ways.

Lisa Davis

commentary

A Path to Recovery from COVID-19 for Small Businesses

The COVID-19 pandemic has hammered small businesses around the United States. We spoke with 21 small business owners to learn more about the challenges they are facing and how they might best be helped.

C. Richard Neu, Diana Gehlhaus, et al.

commentary

Working Moms at Risk of Being Left Behind in Economic Recovery

Being a working parent was hard enough before the pandemic. If COVID-19 intensifies the perception that parenting is at odds with work, then there may be devastating career consequences for working mothers.

Melanie A. Zaber @MelanieZaber, Kathryn A. Edwards

commentary

Reopened Offices Won’t Mean Back-to-Normal for Caregivers

As some workplaces start to reopen and work-from-home guidelines relax, corporate leaders may hope things will quickly get back to normal. But for employees who are also caregivers, that's likely not going to be the case.

Heather J. Williams @HeatherJWill, Bobbi Thomason

commentary

The Wealth Gap Widens

Whether history considers the current downturn a recession or a depression, it will reinforce the growing inequality in the United States. Navigating this crisis without substantially increasing inequality would require an unwavering commitment to support displaced workers and small-business owners.

Shanthi Nataraj

blog

COVID-19's Effects on U.S. Schools, Vaccine Uptake, Small Businesses: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how COVID-19 has affected U.S. schools, potential barriers to vaccine uptake, what small businesses need to survive, and more.

commentary

To Preserve Jobs, America's Employers May Have to Get Creative

With about 38.6 million Americans filing for unemployment insurance benefits since the end of February, it is clear that COVID-19 has turned the world of work upside down. One way to reduce the economic damage may be job-sharing, an approach that focuses on maximizing jobs by reducing workers' hours rather than resorting to layoffs or furloughs.

Jason M. Ward @jason_m_ward

commentary

Relaxing COVID-19 Restrictions Presents Stark Health and Economic Choices

RAND's new COVID-19 interventions impact tool uses epidemiological and economic models and continually refreshed data to estimate what could happen as restrictions are eased. The tool won't make the choices confronting state leaders less painful. But it can provide clear, evidence-based estimates of the health and economic trade-offs.

Jeanne S. Ringel @JeanneRingel, Raffaele Vardavas, et al.

blog

Reopening America, China's 'Mask Diplomacy,' State Police Powers: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on a RAND tool that estimates the public health and economic effects of reopening America, China's “mask diplomacy,” using police powers for pandemic response, and more.

commentary

Is the Unemployment Rate Now Higher Than It Was in the Great Depression?

The extent of COVID-19's effect on the labor market will be catastrophic for many workers and businesses. Matching the unemployment rate peak set by the Great Depression is not even necessary to establish the historic nature of the downturn that we're living through.

Jeffrey B. Wenger, Kathryn A. Edwards

q&a

Reopening America—The Health and Economic Trade-Offs: Q&A with RAND Experts

Local and state officials are thinking through whether, when, and how to lift social-distancing restrictions. We asked three RAND researchers about the complex problem of reopening.