Where we live, work, and play impacts our health. Air pollution and traffic noise from nearby roads and highways can increase residents’ risk of chronic health conditions, but living in areas with more local infrastructure means residents have easier access to health care, healthy food, and recreational facilities. New transportation options such as light rail…

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U.S. state and city leaders issued mask-wearing and social distancing directives in 2020 to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Residents applied the directives differently in their daily lives—reflecting how unevenly these public health messages are understood and followed, new research shows. These findings are among results from new research supported by the Eunice Kennedy…

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As Mother’s Day 2020 fast approaches, the coronavirus pandemic—coupled with ongoing demographic trends—is making family life even more complicated for Americans. Millions of families are at increased risk of falling into poverty due to pandemic-related job losses, and social distancing protocols are separating some children from their parents who live in a different household. American…

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Race may be a social construct but it’s one with consequences that may span generations. While both Black and white families can experience upward or downward wealth mobility from one generation to the next, studies show the dramatic socioeconomic disadvantages for Black families have persisted across generations.

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Trauma and adversity in childhood raise the risk of numerous health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and mental illness in adulthood.1 Several recent studies found that women who experienced childhood adversity are more likely to have their first child early or outside of marriage and face a higher risk of cancer than men….

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U.S. Hispanics tend to defy the odds: They outlive non-Hispanic whites by three years on average, despite having lower income and education levels. In 2014, life expectancy at birth for the U.S. Hispanic population was 81.8 years, compared with 78.8 years for the U.S. non-Hispanic white population.1 For nearly three decades, demographers have probed why…

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