Skip to page content

Children

Featured

Childhood is generally defined as the period of life between birth and adulthood, but children can also be characterized by their stage of development, including prenatal, infant, toddler, school-age, pre-pubescent, and teen or adolescent. RAND research on children covers the prenatal period to age 18 and spans multiple research areas, including health, education, criminal justice, and safety.

Essay
What Programs Can Help Parents in Prison and Their Children?
Around 2.3 million people live in U.S. jails and prisons, and most of them are parents. What are prisons doing to help them be better parents when they get out? It's more than just a policy question—it's a social justice question.
May 2, 2022
News Release
Strengthening School Lunch Nutritional Standards May Help Improve Obesity Outlook for Low-Income Children
Regulations that strengthened the nutritional requirements for school lunches were associated with a decline in signs of obesity among school children in kindergarten through 5th grade who participated in free or reduced-price lunch programs.
May 5, 2022

Explore Children

Journal Article
Association Between Insurance Type and Fluoride Varnish Application During Well-Child Visits in Massachusetts
We compare rates of fluoride varnish (FV) applications during well-child visits for children covered by Medicaid and private medical insurance in Massachusetts.
Jun 22, 2023
Journal Article
Adolescents' Contraceptive Use with School-Discordant Partners: Exploring Individual- and Relationship-Level Characteristics
Characteristics of romantic relationships and contraceptive use were examined among 1,043 female and 961 male Add Health respondents. Females (but not males) were less likely to use condom with partners not from their schools or older partners.
Jun 20, 2023
Journal Article
Feasibility of a Computer-Assisted Social Network Motivational Interviewing Intervention to Reduce Substance Use and Increase Supportive Connections Among Emerging Adults Transitioning from Homelessness to Housing
Results suggest that a substance use intervention using Motivational Interviewing and social network visualizations is acceptable to youth transitioning to housing from and can be feasibly delivered by case managers during case management sessions.
Jun 13, 2023
Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2021–2022
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program serves young people ages 16 to 18 experiencing difficulty in traditional high school. This report covers the program years 2021–2022 and is the seventh in a series on this quasi-military residential program.
Jun 1, 2023
News Release
1 in 5 Teachers Feel Carrying Gun to Class Would Make Schools Safer; More Than Half Think Armed Teachers Would Make ...
U.S. teachers are divided on whether arming themselves would make schools safer, with one in five saying they would be interested in carrying a gun to school.
May 31, 2023
Report
What Do Teachers Think About Carrying Guns to School?
U.S. teachers are divided on whether arming themselves would make schools safer. One in five feels that carrying a gun would make schools safer and would do so if allowed. More than half believe teacher-carry policies would make schools less safe. And teachers' top safety concern is bullying, not guns.
May 31, 2023
Journal Article
Home Visiting for First-Time Parents: Community Innovation
We outline lessons from the First Born home visiting program for other universal programs, including the pros and cons of universal services, the expectation that universal programs will have population-level impact, and barriers to innovation.
May 25, 2023
Journal Article
Effect of Child Benefit Payments on Child Outcome Expenditures in South Korea
Using longitudinal data, Korea's child benefit programs are shown to generate positive child outcome expenditures. The effects are higher for lower- and middle-income families, suggesting that policy should target income groups.
May 25, 2023
Journal Article
Stress-induced Changes in Autonomic Reactivity Vary with Adolescent Violence Exposure and Resting-state Functional Connectivity
Exposure to violence during childhood can lead to functional changes in brain regions. This study examined whether changes in autonomic responses varied with whole brain resting-state functional connectivity as a function of violence exposure.
May 18, 2023
Research Brief
Domestic Abuse Prevention and Outreach Approaches for the Military Community
This study focused on identifying strategies to help prevent domestic abuse among service members and their spouses or partners before it occurs and strategies for outreach to high-risk groups that could be effective in the military environment.
May 16, 2023
Report
Preventing Domestic Abuse in the U.S. Armed Forces
Domestic abuse has severe consequences for service members, their families, and, potentially, unit readiness. What strategies could help prevent domestic abuse before it occurs and help the military with communication to reach individuals who might have risk factors for domestic abuse?
May 16, 2023
Commentary
How Florida's Expansion of 'Don't Say Gay' Law Will Hurt Students and Teachers Across the United States
Policies restricting discussion of LGBTQ+ issues and representation of LGBTQ+ individuals are likely to make schools less welcoming to America's estimated two million LGBTQ+ youth. Policymakers should develop policies that cultivate learning and work environments where all students and educators feel safe and valued.
May 13, 2023
Research Brief
Labor Trafficking in the United States
The U.S. Department of State has estimated that 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year to perform bonded or forced labor. The dimensions of this problem are growing, making it more challenging to study and address.
May 9, 2023
Report
Current and Future Research on Labor Trafficking in the United States
Reducing the prevalence of human trafficking is a national priority. In this report, researchers recommend a research agenda for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to address labor trafficking policy and enforcement.
May 9, 2023
Blog
RAND Turns 75: A Look Through the Decades At World-Changing Research
From anticipating the Space Age in the 1940s to studying gun policy and COVID-19 responses in the 2020s, RAND is celebrating 75 years of research that has made a difference.
May 8, 2023
Journal Article
State Experiences Linking Medicaid Data With Birth Certificates and Other Data Sources
We completed a literature review, developed an inventory of linkage efforts, and facilitated discussions to understand the technical details, experiences creating and maintaining linkages, and barriers or facilitators to establishing linkages.
May 4, 2023
Journal Article
Parental Perceptions Related to Co-Administration of Adolescent COVID-19 and Routine Vaccines
Our objective was to assess parental preferences to have their adolescents aged 12-17 years receive COVID-19 and other routine vaccines at the same time.
May 2, 2023
Journal Article
Changes in Breastfeeding and Lactation Support Experiences During COVID
RAND researchers surveyed parents who gave birth from 2019 to 2021 to examine changes in breastfeeding experiences and professional and lay breastfeeding support services due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Apr 27, 2023
Blog
Truth Decay and National Security, Gun Violence, Blockading Crimea: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on Truth Decay and national security, America's gun violence problem, how Ukraine could blockade Crimea, and more.
Apr 14, 2023
Report
Supporting Students in Foster Care
State and federal policymakers have passed legislation designed to promote collaboration between the education and child welfare systems with the goal of improving educational stability for youth in foster care and, in turn, their educational outcomes. But there are barriers to cross-system collaboration.
Apr 4, 2023

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Next

RAND Topic:
Children

Topic Synonyms:
Child;
Daughter;
Kids;
Offspring;
Son

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Alicia Revitsky Locker

Associate Physical Scientist

Alicia Locker is a behavioral neuroscientist at the RAND Corporation. Locker’s interests include health and mental health in active military service members and veteran populations, retention and resiliency in service members, caregiver support, military readiness, social isolation and…
Laura J. Faherty

Physician Policy Researcher

Laura Faherty (she/her) is a physician policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, and attending physician at Maine Medical Center. Prior to joining RAND, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of…

Explore Our People »