Household Spending Patterns and Hardships during COVID-19: A Comparative Study of the U.S. and Israel

Abstract The combined supply and demand shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic have created the largest consumer behavior shift in recent history, while exposing millions of households to material hardships like food insecurity and housing instability. In this study, we draw on national surveys conducted early in the pandemic to investigate the pandemic’s effects on self-reported […]

Vaccine Hesitance During COVID-19: Exploring Motivations and Incentives

Brugger, L., Roll, S., Kristensen, K., & Grinstein-Weiss, M. (2021). Vaccine hesitance during COVID-19: Exploring motivations and incentives (Social Policy Institute Research Brief). Washington University, Social Policy Institute. https://www.doi.org/10.7936/b07b-ks62

Impact of COVID-19 on Households with Children

The COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions in employment, child care and education. As a result, both parents and children experienced a variety of hardships in their work and education. While these hardships had reverberating effects throughout households, they were not equally distributed across families with children. In this brief, we explore the effects of COVID-19 […]

Housing Hardships During COVID-19

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. households were burdened by the cost of rental and mortgage payments, burdens which disproportionately fell on Black and Hispanic families. Using a 5-wave survey, we examined whether disparities in housing cost burden continued throughout the pandemic and trends in how households fell behind on rent and mortgage payments. […]

The Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Study: Survey Methodology Report

Roll, S., Bufe, S.., Chun, Y., & Grinstein-Weiss, M. (2021). The Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Study: Survey methodology report (Social Policy Institute Research Report). Washington University, Social Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.7936/r4cj-5041

From intention to action: A systematic literature review of provider behaviour change‐focused interventions in physical health and behavioural health settings

It is clear there are significant delays in the uptake of best practices as part of routine care in the healthcare system, yet there is conflicting evidence on how to specifically align provider behaviour with best practices. Method We conducted a review of interventions utilized to change any aspect of provider behaviour. To extend prior […]

Nudging Parents to Improve Children’s Oral Health: A Field Study

This research brief is part of a series by the Social Impact Nudgeathon initiative. This initiative incorporated insights from behavioral economics into the design and delivery of social welfare programs. Developed through a partnership between the Joint Distribution Committee in Israel (JDC-Israel) and the Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis, this initiative is among the first of its kind to launch in Israel. […]