by Octavio Medina
Over the past couple of months we’ve been running a few small-scale surveys to better understand people’s attitudes towards poverty and social safety net programs in the United States. This is part of our broader narrative change work, where we’re exploring how and why people hold particular stories and beliefs, and what role these narratives play in policy. We […]
by Antonia Violante & Moises Roman-Mendoza
Because of the compounding effects of discrimination in our medical, legal, and social services infrastructures, Black mothers and infants in the United States face worse health outcomes than other groups. The Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) – which offers stipends for healthy foods and nutrition education – reduces racial disparities in […]
by ideas42
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many families across America were struggling to make ends meet. But they still have big hopes and dreams today, from getting a car to finding better job opportunities to buying a home. To achieve any of these goals, saving and credit-building are two critical steps toward financial stability and self-determination. […]
by Rebecca Nissan
Despite rapid growth in the adoption of behavioral science over the last decade, some have argued that the field may not be reaching its full potential. When behavioral scientists focus on identifying new applications for existing frameworks, we risk falling short of innovative growth into new technologies and approaches. There is certainly still room to […]
by ideas42
People often (erroneously) believe that a few leaders are responsible for the development of an emerging field, an idea, or event in history because of perceived “natural attributes” such as superior intelligence. This is known as “great man” theory–a flawed theory, of course, because in reality it is the tireless work of countless people that […]
by Catherine MacLeod, ideas42, and Sarika Gupta, the World Bank
Eleanor, a young woman living in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, wants to start a business to improve her family’s life. As a young girl, she saw the women in her life braiding hair – her aunt worked at a hair salon, and her mother taught her how to braid. When deciding what kind of […]
by ideas42
It’s become tradition of sorts that each December, we reflect on the year behind us and celebrate the newest evidence and social impact generated by behavioral science. Of course, 2020 is a difficult year to look back on with much fondness. And yet, even in one of the more challenging years in living memory, we […]
by ideas42
Local government agencies directly impact millions of people’s day-to-day lives, providing essential public services that keep our cities running. Yet we know from behavioral science—the study of how people make decisions and take action in the real world—that there are many reasons programs and services don’t reach as wide or diverse of a population as […]
by Preeti Anand and Sylvia Kezengwa
As behavioral scientists, we know context matters. That’s why in a typical ideas42 project, our team members engage closely with the lived context of real people who will use or be impacted by our designs. We observe how people go about their lives and make daily decisions, interview service providers and people who use these […]
by Toni-Anne Richards and Laura Wolff
At ideas42, we’ve thought a lot about how to maximize the impacts of public benefits in the lives of everyday people, especially during a pandemic. Since the COVID-19 crisis began, we’ve assisted government and non-profit agencies in making their communications about the changes to these benefits more effective. We also generated guidelines for states and […]
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