Blog

Thoughts and insights from our work applying behavioral science to social problems.

Putting Communities First: How AI Can Revolutionize Local Governance

by Ariadna Vargas and Jeremy Barofsky

Memphis, Tennessee, is often the subject of negative media attention, particularly when it comes to crime and poverty. However, after working for months with local non-profit organizations as part of our Narrative Change work, we were able to confirm what residents of the city have always known—that there is so much more to Memphis than […]

6 Behavioral Science Principles Critical for Effective Family Planning Programs

by ideas42

Unintended pregnancies are a persistent global challenge with significant health, financial, and social consequences that disproportionately impact those with the least. Despite significant strides in increasing the availability of contraceptive services, 49% (111 million) of all pregnancies are unintended each year in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), preventing women from having the opportunity to choose […]

Uncovering Hidden Biases in ChatGPT’s Written Content–and Preventing Them from Exacerbating Existing Inequalities

by Ariadna Vargas, Jeremy Barofsky, Miranda Allegar, Erik Simmons, and Maheen Shermohammed

ChatGPT is a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) tool that has the potential to revolutionize the way we produce written content. We may very soon see writers using it as their own personal assistants to generate ideas, publishers using it to generate content effortlessly, and programmers using it to write pieces of code quickly.  However, the […]

Refining Solutions for Supporting Facility-Based Delivery in Liberia

by Allison Schachter and Sara Flanagan

For many rural low-income pregnant women in Liberia, the ability to deliver at a health facility is riddled with barriers. While they may intend to deliver their baby at a health facility and believe it’s the safest place to give birth, it often requires extensive planning and saving, from determining when and how to leave […]

Policy Lab: The Harms of Unwinding Automatic Medicaid Coverage

by Amanda Kaplan and Kelli Garcia

March 7, 2023 Beginning April 1, 2023, people enrolled in Medicaid will have to renew their coverage for the first time in three years. During the federally-declared COVID-19 public health emergency, people did not have to renew their Medicaid coverage. This continuous coverage ensured families had consistent access to health care. As a result, Medicaid […]

Want to Get Healthier but Don’t Know Where to Start? Try Microbehaviors

by Arielle Gorstein

How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? Here are 10 “microbehaviors” to keep your health goals on track. If you made a health-related New Year’s resolution this year, you’re not alone; health-focused resolutions make up the top three most common goals, year after year. And if you’re still going strong, congratulations! You’re in […]

Behavioral Science Can Still Surprise Us

by ideas42

To those looking in on the scientific process, it can often seem like a tidy operation of nicely measured ingredients and serene labs. Researchers and journalists tell the story of this work from idea to insight as relatively linear. Whether or not they arrived in the same place they expected, this can feel like the […]

Policy Lab: Guaranteed Income Programs Give People What They Need Most

by Kelli Garcia

December 14, 2022 Staff members at Springboard To Opportunities heard repeatedly from their clients that the thing they needed to successfully reach their goals was more cash. In response, the Jackson, Mississippi, organization launched the Magnolia’s Mother’s Trust in 2018. It couldn’t have been simpler: for 12 months, it provided low-income Black mothers with $1,000 […]

Policy Lab: Leveraging Behavioral Science to Help Families Build Savings

by Kelli Garcia and Amanda Kaplan

December 5, 2022 Savings help families secure a comfortable retirement, weather financial emergencies, make major purchases, and decrease stress. Unfortunately, nearly 57 million workers in the U.S. do not have access to an employer-based retirement plan, including over 63% of Hispanic workers, 53% of Black workers, 45% of Asian American workers, and 41% of white […]