Women’s labor force participation gains have driven America’s economic recovery. But that recovery is fragile, and built on an unstable, patchwork child care system. While the American Rescue Plan provided $24 billion to the child care sector, those funds must be spent by the end of September. Lauren Bauer and Molly Kinder call on Congress to invest in today’s and tomorrow’s workforce by allocating additional funding for child care.
U.S. schools are struggling to fill special education teacher positions, raising concerns about whether they are adequately staffed to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Are financial incentives effective for recruiting and retaining special educators? Elizabeth Bettini, Allison Gilmour, Tammy Kolbe, and Roddy Theobald share findings from a study in Hawaii.
Impaired social and emotional development in early childhood, COVID-induced school disruptions, social media’s negative impacts on youth, long COVID, and rising rates of dementia are straining the health of the “global brain.” In a new paper, Carol Graham and co-authors shed light on the problem and share an interactive dashboard to monitor brain health and skills.
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