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Bar chart titled "Percentage of Youth and Parents Who Think It Is Mostly OK When Students Are Chronically Absent, by Age Group." The chart compares responses by youths and parents. For youth, 32% of all youth, 31% aged 12–14, 29% aged 15–16, and 37% aged 17–18 think it is mostly okay. For parents, 18% of all parents, 17% of those with children aged 12–14, 18% with children aged 15–16, and 21% with children aged 17–18 think it is mostly okay.
A chart. Figure 10. Teacher Out-of-Pocket Spending on School Supplies. Sorted by grade level, teacher experience, school poverty, and student racial composition.
Plum text on a light pink background reads: Nearly 1 in 5 young people in the U.S. use AI chatbots for mental health advice.
Bar chart titled "Percentage of Students Who Checked Their Cell Phones During Their Classes at Least Once per Day, by School Cell Phone Policy." It shows percentages of students who said they checked their phone in class across five policy categories: "Cannot bring phone to school" (42%), "No phone use in school" (50%), "No phone use allowed in class" (72%), and "Phone use allowed in class" (84%), and "No cell phone rules" (84%).
The line graph titled "Tradeoffs could tame the federal debt by 2055" illustrates three scenarios for the U.S. federal debt as a percentage of GDP. The baseline scenario shows a steep rise to 156% by 2055. The 23% target scenario depicts a steady decrease to 23% around 2055, and the high productivity growth scenario shows a dip to 98% before rising again. Text states that 30-year planning and fiscal adjustments could lower the debt to 1975 levels.
Figure 1. Total Population in China, Japan, India, and the United States: 1950-2050 is a line graph charting, with four lines, population in each of the listed countries. Source: Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Population Division, 2024 Revision of World Population Prospects, database, United Nations, 2024.
Figure 2. Estimated Proportion of U.S. Adults Who Microdosed Psilocybin, MDMA, or LSD Among Those Who Used in the Past Year shows three circular charts beside each other that compare use of each drug. The left chart shows that 69% of those who tried Psilocybin reported microdosing at least once. The chart in the middle indicates that 65% of those who tried MDMA reported microdosing at least once. The chart on the right shows that 59% of those who tried LSD reported microdosing at least once.
Figure 1. Past-Year Use of Psychedelic Substances by Adults in the United States is a bar chart with substances listed on the y axis and percentages on the x axis. Substances are: Psilocybin, MDMA or MDA, Amanita muscaria, Ketamine, LSD, DMT, Mescaline, 2C-B, Salvia divinorum, Ibogaine or iboga, and 5-MeO-DMT. Useage rates range from about .5% to just over 4%.
Graphic showing the percentage of boys and young men ages 12-21 who reported having a mentor.
Family joyfully greeting a military service member returning home, with text overlay that reads: Policy Minded
This line chart compares two measures of unsheltered persons or dwellings over time from January 2022 through 2025.
This line chart compares two measures of unsheltered persons or dwellings over time from January 2022 to January 2026.
Figure 6: Group of two bar charts showing students' reasons why schools should or should not ban cell phones from class
Figure 5: Bar chart showing percentages of youth enrolled in K-12 schools who support cell phone policies in some form
Figure 2: Bar chart showing various grade levels and their cell phone policies
Figure 1: Diagram showing percentages of how cell phones are allowed in schools. 95% of principals report students can bring phones to school.
Stacked bar chart comparing educational attainment of all young people and disconnected youth in four categories: No high school degree, GED, High school graduate, and some college plus
Grouped bar chart comparing rates of disconnection between men and women by various dimensions including family structure, race, ethnicity, and education
Figure 2. Percentage of U.S. Adults Reporting GLP-1 Agonist Use, by Age and Sex Age 18-29 Age 30-49 Age 50-64 Age 65+ Men 2.5% 7.2% 16.8% 13.5% Total 3.3% 11.2% 18.5% 13.1% Women 4.1% 15.1% 20.0% 12.8% SOURCE: Authors' analysis of RAND American Life Panel survey data, April–May 2025.
Figure 5: Teachers Who Use Standards-Aligned Curriculum at Least Weekly. Bar graph displaying data for Math and ELA over six academic years from 2018-19 to 2023-24.
Figure 4: Frequent Job-Related Stress Rising Again Among Female Teachers. Line chart indicates female and male teachers, female similar working adults, male similar working adults. Years span from 2021-2025.
Figure 3: Who Feels Most and Least Prepared to Teach MLLs to Grade-Level Standards displaying varying levels of teacher preparedness across different educational levels and qualifications. Categories range from 'Not at all' to 'Fully prepared'.
Figure 2: How Many Students Disengage During Math Lessons? A bar chart with answers "never or almost ever," "less than half of the time," "about half of the time," "more than half of the time," and "all or almost all of the time" on the x axis. On the y axis, 30%, 20%, and 10% are indicated.
Figure 1: Urban Districts Report Extreme Chronic Absenteeism. Severity levels are indicated on the x axis: low, modest, significant, high, and extreme. On the y axis, school district subgroups: total, urban, suburban, rural, low poverty, middle poverty, high poverty, majority white students, majority students of color.
Figure 3: Percentages of Youths Who Said They Felt It Is "Mostly OK" to Miss Three Weeks of School, by Parents’ Highest Education Level. All youth: 26%; High school or less: 33%; Some college or associate’s degree: 24%; Bachelor’s degree or higher: 23%
Figure 4 Alt Text: Bar Chart: Percentage of Youths Who Selected Various Reasons for Missing School This Year. There are eight categories with their respective percentages identified with blue shading. Sickness: 67%; Felt down or anxious: 10%; Oversleeping: 9%; Uninterested in school: 7%; Needed to care for a family member: 4%; Lack of transportation to school: 3%; Too behind on schoolwork to go: 3%; Work hours conflict with school hours: 1%.
Figure 2: Percentage Distribution of Districts by Severity of Chronic Absenteeism Levels, by District Subgroup. Severity levels are indicated on the x axis: low, modest, significant, high, and extreme. On the y axis, school district subgroups: total, urban, suburban, rural, low poverty, middle poverty, high poverty, majority white students, majority students of color. Total: low: 7, modest: 24, significant: 30, high: 28, extreme: 11; urban: low: 0, modest: 0, significant: 23, high: 33, extreme: 44; suburban: low: 8, modest: 42, significant: 27, high: 16, extreme: 7; rural: low: 8, modest: 19, significant: 32, high: 31; extreme: 9; low poverty: low: 11, modest: 46, significant: 28, high: 15; extreme: 1; middle poverty: low: 5, modest: 19, significant: 36, high: 28, extreme: 12; high poverty: low: 8, modest: 10, significant: 21, high: 41, extreme: 20; majority white students: low: 10, modest: 25, significant: 33, high: 23, extreme: 8; majority students of color: low: 1, modest: 19, significant: 24, high: 38, extreme: 18. A purple box around the urban, suburban, and rural “extreme” figures indicates that urban districts were five to six times more likely to report extreme chronic absenteeism than their rural and suburban peers.
Figure 1 Alt Text: Line Graph: Chronic Absenteeism Rates by School Year. There are two lines on the graph, a solid line representing data from Malkus (2025) and a dotted line representing an estimate from RAND surveys. The vertical axis is labeled from 0-30% to show percentages of absent students, and the horizontal axis is labeled with school years 2016-2017 through 2024-2025. In the graph, the solid line begins under 15% in the 2016-2017 school year and dips down, then back up, during the COVID-19 pandemic. That section of the chart is labeled: "interpret with caution due to data collection interruptions." Following 2020-2021, the solid line rises from around 15% to nearly 30% in 2021-2022 and down to just under 25% in 2023-2024. The dotted line indicates RAND estimates a steeper decline in 2023-2024, under 20%, and rises to just over 20% in 2024-2025.
Figure 3. Percentage of U.S. Adults Who Have Ever Taken a GLP-1 Agonist Reporting Side Effects, by Severity Level A stacked bar chart comparing the percentage reporting mild or serious side effects like nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and hollowed-out-face. Nausea Diarrhea Vomiting Hollowed-Out Face Mild 43.2% 26.8% 14.4% 7.4% Serious 8.8% 7.5% 5.4% 1.1% Total 52.0% 34.3% 19.8% 8.5% SOURCE: Authors' analysis of RAND American Life Panel survey data, April–May 2025.
Figure 2. Percentage of U.S. Adults Reporting GLP-1 Agonist Use, by Age and Sex Age 18-29 Age 30-49 Age 50-64 Age 65+ Men 2.5% 7.2% 16.8% 13.5% Total 3.3% 11.2% 18.5% 13.1% Women 4.1% 15.1% 20.0% 12.8% SOURCE: Authors' analysis of RAND American Life Panel survey data, April–May 2025.
Figure 1. Percentage of U.S. Adults Reporting GLP-1 Agonist Use Stacked bar chart showing percentage of adults reporting GLP-1 agonist use. No, and I do not plan to take them = 74.2% No, but I am interested in taking them = 14.0% Yes, I have taken them at least once = 11.8% SOURCE: Authors' analysis of RAND American Life Panel survey data, April–May 2025.
Graphic with the text 'Policy Minded' over a stylized brain illustration in shades of purple and mauve, set against a dark purple background.
Graphic with the text 'Policy Minded' over a stylized brain illustration in shades of purple and mauve, set against a dark purple background.
Line graph titled 'Panel B. Percentage of principals who retired or resigned' shows retirement percentages before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, up until the school year 2023-2024. Pre-pandemic, the percentage was 3%, rising to 6% in SY 2021-2022, peaking at 16% during the COVID-19 pandemic, then decreasing to 9% in SY 2023-2024, and further down to 8%.
Line graph titled 'Panel A. Percentage of teachers who retired or resigned" shows the retirement rates before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rates start at 6% pre-pandemic, rise to 10% in SY 2021-2022, and decrease to 7% in SY 2023-2024.
Figure 7.2 Water: A vision A map of Gaza and the West Bank showing water distribution, current and proposed water sources and plants, sanitation and reuse, and topography. Full accessibility content available at rand.org.
Figure 6.2 Energy: A vision A map of Gaza and the West Bank showing proposed energy sources, including gas and electricity networks. Full accessibility content available at rand.org.
Figure 5.2 Transportation: A vision A map of Gaza and the West Bank showing possible road, transit, and train networks and ports of entry. Full accessibility content available at rand.org.
Figure 4.2 Cities: A vision A map of Gaza and the West Bank showing several cities, including urban areas, the existing built footprint, proposals for new cities, and more. Full accessibility content available at rand.org.
Figure 3.2 Environment: A vision A map of Gaza and the West Bank showing streams and watersheds, and areas designated for ecological bridges, riparian parks, and agriculture. Full accessibility content available at rand.org.
Figure 2.2 Governance: A vision A map of Gaza and the West Bank showing border proposals, land swaps, and the existing built area. Full accessibility content available at rand.org.
Text over photo of a landscape reads: New Report: Pathways to a Durable Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Potential Sources of At-Risk U.S. Imports Span the Globe (Figure 1). Three maps outline different parts of the world. Darker shading (China) indicates more categories of goods that the International Labor Affairs classified in 2021 as being at risk of being made with forced labor in that country. Lighter pink shading (India) indicates fewer categories, and gray indicates no categories.
White text on a dark plum background reads: New Report: Combating Forced Labor in Global Supply Chains
We’re grateful to those of you in the wider RAND community who have reached out with concern about the wildfires in Los Angeles. Our headquarters in Santa Monica is safe at time of writing, and we're offering support to staff who have been affected as we continue to monitor the situation. Our thoughts are with those colleagues, the firefighters and first responders working to protect others, and everyone in the Los Angeles area.
A map of the United States showing estimated average wait times by state, 2025-2044. Highest average wait times include Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma. Lowest wait times include Minnesota, Utah, and New York.
People were more likely to develop dementia if they - did not exercise - had diabetes or a high body mass index - had never worked - lacked private health insurance - never drank or excessively drank alcohol - had few hobbies
Previews of different sections of the new rand.org. Our new site has improved accessibility. Visit rand.org to explore.
Table showing quality of evidence supporting risk management and the geographic extent of global catastrophic and existential risks. Risks like large asteroids or pandemics have high-quality evidence and global scale, so they sit in the bottom-righthand corner of the chart. AI's effects could have either regionalized or global scale, but the quality of evidence supporting risk management is low. Full accessibility content is available on rand.org.
Table titled, "Likelihood of Hazard- or Threat-Related Catastrophe." The table lists the likelihood of the potential consequences for AI, asteroid/comet impact, nuclear war, climate change, pandemics, and supervolcanoes. Full accessibility content is available on rand.org.
Table titled, "The Most Significant Consequences for Each of the Six Hazards and Threats." The table lists corresponding consequences for AI, asteroid/comet impact, nuclear war, climate change, pandemics, and supervolcanoes. Full accessibility content is available on rand.org.
Chart titled "Alternatives to Traditional Supply Prohibition of Psychedelics," with a decision tree showing potential paths. Branches start with options where supply remains prohibited, such as deprioritizing grow & give enforcement, and moving toward options where some supply is legal and retail sales are authorized, such as legalized sales by nonprofit orgs.
Large white text on a navy background reads: 75 years of RAND insights on NATO.
Series of graphs titled "Well-Being of Teachers and Working Adults," comparing percentages of frequent job-related stress, difficulty coping with job-related stress, symptoms of depression, and burnout between teachers and comparable working adults based on survey responses. Teachers generally show higher percentages in all categories compared to working adults. Graph lines are color-coded, with blue representing teachers and green representing working adults. A footnote provides details on the data source and methodology, stating comparisons are drawn from adults who are between the ages of 18 and 64, have at least a bachelor's degree, and are working at least 35 hours per week.
Allowing same-sex couples to marry led to... -an approximately 2% increase in marriage among different-sex couples -a 10% increase in marriage overall -a 0-to 10% decrease in cohabitation among different-sex couples -no consistent change in divorce among different-sex couples
Table titled Comparing Attributes of Anticipatory Renewal Versus Decline. The table lists attributes of successful anticipatory renewal in case studies from Britain and the United States, as well as attributes of failed attempts at renewal or steady decline. Find full accessibility content on our website.