Shutdowns and restrictions early in the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted contraceptive services, abortion access, and other sexual and reproductive health care across the globe, new research shows. In many places, providers shifted toward telemedicine; in the United States, more women received medication abortions. But women from disadvantaged groups faced more obstacles to receiving care as the…

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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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In estimating the magnitude of the pandemic, demographers have found that COVID-19 is likely to shorten the average U.S. lifespan in 2020 by about a year.

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As coronavirus cases rise in less densely populated states in the Midwest and West, the disease, combined with high levels of obesity in rural America, could pose major challenges for health care systems, suggests Mark Lee at the University of Minnesota. People of any age with obesity face a greatly increased risk of severe illness…

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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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