The 2022 election influencers

To really understand an election, you have to understand the motivations — and the lives — of the Americans voting in it. But too often our politics misses the point, and just describes people as demographic groups or party labels. We can do better. We’ve got the data for it: […] Read more »

Excess Death Rates for Republicans and Democrats During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Political affiliation has emerged as a potential risk factor for COVID-19, amid evidence that Republican-leaning counties have had higher COVID-19 death rates than Democrat-leaning counties and evidence of a link between political party affiliation and vaccination views. This study constructs an individual-level dataset with political affiliation and excess death rates […] Read more »

Half of Public Has Heard Little or Nothing About the New COVID-19 Booster Aimed at Omicron

Less than a month after the Food and Drug Administration authorized new COVID-19 booster shots that target both the omicron and original strains, public awareness is modest, a new KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey finds. Half the public says they’ve heard either “a lot” (17%) or “some” (33%) about the […] Read more »

Parents Beg to Differ With Cataclysmic Views of Schools

The pandemic’s long-term impact on the education of American schoolchildren is, by definition, not going to be known for many years. In the short term, however, recent headlines have suggested the impact has been quite negative. News reports have highlighted the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) […] Read more »