Skip to page content

Families

Featured

A multigenerational group of people who share a close relationship and generally live in the same household, with one or more parents caring for biological or adopted children, families also include adult children who care for their elderly parents. RAND research on families spans various populations and socioeconomic backgrounds in developed as well as developing countries and addresses such topics as child welfare, fertility, marriage and divorce, and household economic security.

News Release
Care Experiences Are Worse in For-Profit Hospices Than in Not-for-Profit Hospices
Family caregivers of patients treated by more than 3,100 U.S. hospices reported worse care experiences on average from for-profit hospices across all of the domains assessed, including help for pain and getting timely care.
Feb 27, 2023
Commentary
Service Members and Their Families Are Paying for the Air Force's Fiscal Shortfalls
The United States faces the critical task of rebalancing long-term military personnel funding for sustainable workforce development and utilization. Otherwise, it could fail to keep the faith with the U.S. military's most precious asset: people and families.
Jul 31, 2023

Explore Families

Tool
Programs That Work
Public and private organizations serve millions of children and families in the United States. But how many of these programs are effective? The Promising Practices Network provides insight into which child and family programs are achieving their goals.
Sep 26, 2014
Multimedia
Helping American Veterans and Their Caregivers
In this podcast, Terri Tanielian offers policy recommendations designed to improve the lives of veterans, their caregivers, and their families.
Sep 23, 2014
News Release
Private Effort to Address Veterans' Mental Health Needs Could Aid VA Health Care Reform
A unique partnership to support private efforts to provide mental health services to veterans and their families could provide a model for similar efforts should federal officials decide to expand privately provided health care as part of reform of the VA health system.
Sep 18, 2014
Research Brief
A Program Steps Up to the Plate to Aid Vets, Families with Mental Health Care
As federal, state, and local agencies work with the philanthropic community to create models to outsource or leverage potential efficiencies from the private sector, a unique partnership and grant-making program to support veterans and their families has value and could guide future efforts.
Sep 18, 2014
Report
Private Effort to Address Veterans' Mental Health Needs Could Aid VA Health Care Reform
A unique partnership to support private efforts to provide mental health services to veterans and their families could be a model for similar efforts should federal officials decide to expand privately provided health care as part of reform of the VA health system.
Sep 17, 2014
Commentary
Meeting the Caregivers Challenge
Ill or injured military personnel and veterans and people with dementia are unique populations, but they give us a preview of the enormous long-term care challenges Americans will face in the decades to come.
Aug 25, 2014
Commentary
Germs Go Back to School, Too: Five Ways to Protect Your Kids
With kids working and playing in close contact and sharing supplies and equipment, schools can be hotbeds for infection. Each year, K-12 students miss about 60 million school days due to colds and the flu combined. But these five approaches can help reduce their chance of spreading infections and getting sick.
Aug 25, 2014
Commentary
Response to 'Study on Parental Longevity Is Short on Causation'
The possible effects of families on health and mortality is an extremely complex topic. No single study or type of study is exactly a test of the argument. We need more studies that advance possible interpretations and describe patterns of associations in broad populations of interest.
Aug 11, 2014
Report
How Deployments Affect the Capacity and Utilization of Army Treatment Facilities
This study examines how the Army's Force Generation (ARFORGEN) deployment cycle affects capability and soldier health care utilization at Army military treatment facilities and how it affects family health care utilization.
Aug 7, 2014
Commentary
Military and Veteran Mental Health: Why Should Psychiatrists Care?
What's happening in the mental health world of the U.S. military and veterans is of great interest to all American psychiatrists. The local impact of recent deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan runs much deeper than just the number of veterans in a particular practice or community.
Aug 6, 2014
Journal Article
Time Off to Care for a Sick Child: Why Family-Leave Policies Matter
There is substantial unmet need for parental leave to care for chronically ill children.
Aug 1, 2014
Journal Article
Do College-Educated Children Lengthen Parents' Lifespan?
Initial findings suggest highly educated children contribute to the parents' longevity. Encouraging better parental health habits, providing access to resources and information, and delivering higher-quality care are some possible explanations for this correlation.
Aug 1, 2014
Commentary
Demographics Add Urgency for Action on Dementia Long-Term Care
Dementia takes a huge toll on those afflicted with it but also has major consequences for those who must care for them. More than 15 million Americans provide care for loved ones with dementia—tending to their daily, routine needs and ensuring their medical needs are met.
Jul 28, 2014
Brochure
Fact Sheet: European Platform for Investing in Children
This fact sheet aims to introduce the European Platform for Investing in Children through a Q&A section, and a diagram illustrating how EPIC operates and reviews practices in the field of child and family wellbeing.
Jul 25, 2014
Commentary
Parallel Caregiver Crises, Military and Civilian
Among American caregivers, there are two expanding populations: those caring for military servicemembers struggling with physical or emotional wounds of war and those looking after people with dementia. Both face incalculable financial stresses and threats to their own health as a result of their caregiving roles.
Jul 9, 2014
Commentary
Private Mental Health Providers Must Stand Ready to Help Veterans
Not all veterans wish to seek services at or through the VA, and many may not meet eligibility criteria. The VA is a critical component of the health care delivery system for former U.S. servicemembers, but it cannot and should not comprise the system alone.
Jun 27, 2014
Commentary
Are Youth Putting Off Marriage Because of Their Student Loan Debt?
Women with higher loan balances may be less likely to get married than their peers with lower or no loan balances. But as time goes on, young adults adjust to their post-college financial situation and eventually get promotions, earn raises, obtain other assets, and get married.
Jun 26, 2014
Multimedia
How to Better Support Military Caregivers
Caring for a current or former U.S. servicemember can take a toll on family, friends, and acquaintances. Changes are needed to both provide assistance to caregivers and to help them make plans for the future.
Jun 24, 2014
Blog
Sen. Elizabeth Dole Urges Graduates to Use Storytelling to Advance Policy
Facts and objective analysis are important, but for policy analysts to make a difference in the real world they also have to be able to tell a story, former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole said at the June 21 Pardee RAND Graduate School commencement.
Jun 24, 2014
Q&A
Ask Me Anything: Rajeev Ramchand on Military Caregivers
With military caregivers quickly becoming a topic of national discussion, RAND's Rajeev Ramchand hosted an
Jun 24, 2014

Previous
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Next

RAND Topic:
Families

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Sarah O. Meadows

Senior Sociologist

Sarah O. Meadows is a senior sociologist at the RAND Corporation and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research areas include families and children (both civilian and military) and defense manpower issues, with a particular focus on readiness and resilience, women's…
Thomas E. Trail

Senior Behavioral Scientist

Thomas E. Trail is a senior behavioral scientist at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Trail's research focuses on how stress affects relationship processes and health outcomes among military and civilian couples and the effectiveness of programs in…

Explore Our People »