Research Library

Decades of research demonstrate the critical importance of early childhood development, but the United States ranks last among wealthy countries in child health outcomes. This brief lays out a series of recommendations to improve the developmental potential of American children.

Continued robust economic growth in the U.S. will, among many other things, require policies that encourage rapid technological innovation and increases in productivity, promote investment while reducing debt, and maximize economic efficiency. The authors explain why in this brief.

The Covid-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for resettled refugees in the U.S. and exposed underlying vulnerabilities that particularly impact refugee women and children, as well as the organizations that work to support them. The authors examine the difficulties facing refugees in the U.S. and offer policy recommendations that may help them.

Parental stress, which is heightened during natural disasters, can produce negative physiological responses in the developing brains of their infants and young children. This irreversibly alters the child’s brain structure, impacting their long-term prospects for good health and academic and economic success. Now is the time to institute policies and practices that mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the next generation, write the authors,

The authors argue for an identification and tax program that would allow unauthorized residents to receive identification documents and reside and work legally in the United States. In return, they would pay taxes much like any other American.

An increasing number of lawful permanent U.S. residents from Mexico could lose access to their U.S. social security contributions as a result of deportation.

Mexico's government has eliminated almost all conditions (health checkups, school attendance for children) previously attached to cash transfers for the poor. The author considers the impact of the antipoverty overhaul.

By Michael W. Deem, Melia E. Bonomo and Kirstin R.W. Matthews Due to the rapidly mutating influenza virus, a new vaccine is usually developed for each flu season. In this policy brief, the authors discuss the current method used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop the flu vaccine and propose the use of mathematical modeling to improve the vaccine's effectiveness.

In order to increase the capacity of American children to become productive citizens and compete in a global economy, it is vital that future federal policies include a focus on improving children’s brain development, writes health policy scholar Quianta Moore.

Mexico Center director Tony Payan outlines overarching principles and specific policy proposals that, with the necessary political will, can productively address complex immigration issues.