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Re-affirming the value of rigorous, policy-relevant research
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From rising homelessness and climate-related disasters to persistent educational gaps and roughly 38 million Americans living in poverty, the challenges facing communities in the United States are staggering and complex.
When faced with limited resources, policymakers must be judicious in determining which programs and policies to invest in. Rigorous research plays an essential role in identifying which policies are achieving their intended goals—ensuring that critical public dollars are spent on solutions that deliver results.
In recent months, we have witnessed significant changes affecting the United States’ data and evaluation infrastructure, such as the removal of public access to databases and reduced funding opportunities for evaluations including for researchers in J-PAL’s network. As leaders of a non-partisan research center, we believe in the power of data and evaluation to understand whether policies are working—and to course correct when they are not.
Without rigorous research, policy decisions risk being driven by ideology, anecdotes, or political winds rather than data and hard facts. High-quality data enables us to build and understand a shared reality of the challenges facing our society—from crime and violence to maternal mortality to labor market discrimination.
Rigorous evidence of causal impact has often transformed our understanding of pressing policy issues and how to address them, while challenging policymakers’ assumptions and cutting across the political aisle. Below, we feature five examples of studies conducted by researchers in the J-PAL network that have informed policies on health care, housing, and employment in the United States—impacting tens of millions of Americans.
Expanding Medicaid to low-income, uninsured adults
In a landmark evaluation, researchers took advantage of a lottery in Oregon that gave low-income uninsured adults the chance to apply for Medicaid to examine the impact of health insurance on a variety of outcomes over the first two years. Medicaid coverage increased health care use, including use of preventive services and visits to emergency departments; reduced financial strain; reduced depression, and improved self-reported health while having no detectable impact on physical health outcomes or involvement with the criminal legal system. Read more »
‘Ban the Box’ policies found not to reduce employer discrimination
In 2016 more than 150 jurisdictions and 25 states had passed “Ban the Box” (BTB) laws and policies, which prohibit employers from asking whether an applicant has been convicted of a crime on initial job applications or during interviews. BTB policies are often presented as a tool for reducing race gaps in employment, particularly for Black men—a group that faced unemployment rates nearly double the national average in 2015 and are overrepresented in all steps of the criminal legal process. A randomized evaluation tested the impact of applicant race and criminal history on hiring decisions both before and after BTB policies came into effect in New Jersey and New York City. Before the governments implemented BTB, employers with the box called back white applicants only slightly more than otherwise similar black applicants. When BTB policies were implemented, the Black-white gap in callbacks at companies included in the study increased sixfold. The results suggest that without information on applicant criminal records, employers relied on exaggerated racial stereotypes about Black applicants as a proxy for criminality. Read more »
Housing vouchers for families living in high-poverty neighborhoods
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched the Moving to Opportunity project in 1994 to test the impact of offering housing vouchers to families living in high-poverty neighborhoods. A randomized evaluation of the program found that families who were offered the voucher moved to lower-poverty, safer neighborhoods. Children in these families had better outcomes on education, income, and health in the long term if they moved before age 13, while older children faced slightly negative long-term effects on these outcomes possibly due to disruption. Adults in these families had no detectable change on education, employment, or income but did experience improvements in their health and happiness. This evidence has highlighted the important role of the environment in young children’s lives. Read more »
Relieving medical debt found not to improve health or financial outcomes
Nearly 41 percent of American adults have medical or dental debt, and outstanding medical debt in collections totals more than $140 billion. Researchers evaluated the impact of a medical debt relief program—that buys and relieves a portion of individuals’ medical debt—on measures of mental and physical health, health care utilization, and financial well-being. Individuals randomized to receive debt relief did not experience improvements in the health and financial outcomes measured compared to those in the comparison group. The results of this evaluation affirm that medical debt relief alone does not address the harms associated with high health care costs in the United States. Read more »
Investing in youth and saving lives through Summer Youth Employment Programs
A J-PAL North America Evidence Review synthesized findings from thirteen randomized evaluations of Summer Youth Employment Programs (SYEPs) across four major US cities. The evidence demonstrated that SYEPs have been found to improve the lives of young people in outcome areas as diverse as criminal legal involvement, education (for certain subgroups), and youth development, with one evaluation in New York City reporting reduced mortality rates. However, SYEPs were not found to increase rates of formal sector employment for the average participant after program conclusion. Read more »
Encouragingly, leaders on both sides of the aisle have recognized the value of evidence, contributing to a decades-long movement to strengthen the foundations for evidence-based policymaking. J-PAL North America is working with government leaders from states across the country to evaluate the effectiveness of promising policy ideas, such as subsidized public transit fares for unemployed adults and cognitive behavior therapy for individuals in the Lubbock County Detention Center.
We all benefit from knowing what works. We encourage you to check out our evaluation database and evaluation toolkit. J-PAL North America will continue to champion the use of rigorous evidence to improve policy and lives. A commitment to producing and using knowledge is not just good governance—it is the foundation for progress.