In this report we highlight findings on the differing job demands of older versus younger workers from the 2015 American Working Conditions Survey (AWCS), a new nationally representative survey of U.S. workers ages 25-71. We find that generally older workers (over age 50) report better working...

Using a random sample of more than 4000 veterans, we test the effects of combat exposure on mental health. We focus on two cohorts of veterans: those who served in Vietnam (1964-1975) and the Gulf War (1990-1991). Combat exposure differed between these groups in intensity, duration and elapsed...

Using a random sample of U.S. unemployment insurance (UI) applicants from 2002-09, we find that unemployment duration (as measured by the time spent waiting to apply for benefits) has a negative and nonlinear effect on reservation wages, suggesting job search is a nonstationary process...

What role can information play in changing the take-up of social benefits? Using evidence from an online, large-scale survey experiment of American workers, the authors answer this question in the context of unemployment insurance (UI). Three treatments provided accurate, concise, and customized...

A burgeoning literature has found that “submerged” social policies – those delivered through non-state actors or the tax code – are less visible to citizens, meaning that citizens are less capable of forming informed preferences about those policies. But even non-submerged policies...

The effect of identity, as socially constructed by race and gender, on social policies has been widely examined in policy analysis. Policy analysis would be improved by a wider discussion that includes the influence of social-psychological constructs on social provision. We fill this gap by...

Entrepreneurship has declined among younger households, those headed by somebody less than 50 years old, while it has increased among older households over the past two decades. We explore whether this divergence in entrepreneurial activity could be linked to different experiences with income...