Blog

Thoughts and insights from our work applying behavioral science to social problems.

Resources for Making Financial Supports Behaviorally Informed During a Crisis

by Katy Davis & Manasee Desai

This is part of a series of posts about behavioral science and COVID-19. Click here to read about some of the most important behaviors during this pandemic—like seeking medical help, responding to humanitarian crises, and adapting to remote work in a global outbreak. You’d be forgiven if you overlooked that April is Financial Literacy Month, […]

Inoculating Democracy from COVID-19

by Omar Parbhoo

This is part of a series of posts about behavioral science and COVID-19. Click here to read about some of the most important behaviors during this pandemic—like seeking medical help, responding to humanitarian crises, and adapting to remote work in a global outbreak. The coronavirus outbreak is upending core functions of our democracy, forcing Americans […]

Designing for Effective Physical Distancing in Essential Public Spaces

by Alissa Fishbane, Jana Smith & Piyush Tantia

This is part of a series of posts about behavioral science and COVID-19. Click here to read about some of the most important behaviors during this pandemic—like seeking medical help, responding to humanitarian crises, and adapting to remote work in a global outbreak. Social distancing, or physical distancing, as we have started referring to it […]

When Panic Buying Hurts: Strategies to Lessen the Impact on WIC Participants

by Rebecca Oran

This is part of a series of posts on behavioral science and COVID-19. Click here to read about some of the most important behaviors during this pandemic—like healthy distancing and seeking medical help, and responding to humanitarian crises in a global outbreak. Social distancing guidelines in the U.S. have been extended through the end of April as a […]

Behavioral Insights for Keeping Your Sanity While Working at Home with Kids

by Allie Yates-Berg

This is part of a series of posts about behavioral science and COVID-19. Click here to read about some of the most important behaviors during this pandemic—like healthy distancing and seeking medical help, and responding to humanitarian crises in a global outbreak. Greetings from the Wild West of parenting while working from home. How are […]

So You’re Working from Home? Make the Most of it with Behavioral Science Tips

by Dana Guichon

This is part of a series of posts about behavioral science and COVID-19. Click here to read about two of the most important behaviors during this crisis–social distancing and seeking medical help. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues its alarming spread, many of us are looking to do our part to ease this rising tide. We […]

When Social Distancing Is Impossible: Humanitarian Crises and Human Behavior

by Meghann Perez

This is part of a series of posts on behavioral science and COVID-19. Recent news has focused strongly on how the U.S. and many European countries will cope with the newfound “way of life” in adhering to public health guidelines for COVID-19. Largely missing in this narrative are the significant global challenges yet to come—such […]

The Behavioral Side of COVID-19

by Piyush Tantia & Meghann Perez

This is the first of a series of posts about behavioral science and COVID-19. Government officials are trying to yell life-saving instructions over the roar of social media. And some of us are trying to follow those instructions and encouraging stubborn family and friends to do so, too. These directives aren’t just hard to communicate, […]

Public Charge Rule Update: Still Pure Sludge, Now in Effect

by Jeremy Barofsky

Note: this is a timely update to a post about the policy implications of the sludge-filled public charge rule change. Click here to read the original post and view our analysis. On February 24, the federal government’s new “public charge” rule took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overruled a temporary nationwide injunction blocking implementation of […]

Behavioral Science and the Census: Getting out the Count in NYC

by Julia Anderson and Laura Wolff

Each decade, the government makes an effort to count every person living in the United States. The census is absolutely essential to making government programs and services work as effectively as possible. For example, census data are used to determine the amount of federal funding for hundreds of programs – from Medicaid and student loans […]