Research Library

From an early age, children spend many hours interacting with screens: phones, tablets, and laptops. A new policy brief from the Child Health Policy Program explains the importance of unstructured free play for healthy child development and recommends four policy approaches to reduce screen time and ensure children’s well-being in the digital age.

Non-medical drivers of health, also known as social determinants of health, have a significant impact on health outcomes. As fellow Sandra McKay and her co-authors explain, adequate funding to identify and address non-medical drivers — housing and food insecurity, transport issues, and financial strain — can improve patients’ health and health care delivery systems, while also reducing costs.

If implemented, the Handle with Care program could provide a significant opportunity to help students facing trauma, write scholar Christopher Kulesza and co-author Abigail Levine. Their new policy brief urges Texas legislators to enact the program statewide.

As the judicial battle over Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates continues, the authors argue that the most effective way to protect children from COVID-19 is to require masks in schools. Click below for their full list of policy recommendations, including what exceptions should be made, and when and how to end school mask requirements.

The space station is an outstanding model for international cooperation by the world's nations. Similarly, cooperation can advance many other areas of science and technology through shared expertise and costs, and the pursuit of complementary efforts.

This brief reviews the cost and development problems associated with NASA's plan to return to the moon by 2024 and argues that it is crucial for officials at NASA and the White House to review and adjust the current plans in order to ensure a successful lunar landing.

Due to its high launch costs and the availability of other, more cost-effective commercial launch vehicles, the Biden administration should review the need for NASA's Space Launch System during the negotiation of the annual federal budget, writes George W.S. Abbey, senior fellow in space policy.

A critical reassessment of NASA’s current programs and future is essential to ensure the nation’s continued leadership role in human spaceflight, writes senior fellow George Abbey.