Social Sciences

A new study has found that in U.S. counties that ended COVID-19 pandemic-era Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Emergency Allotments, child maltreatment rates went up. The findings from the study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggest that changes to food assistance programs have consequences that extend beyond food... Read more

There are two lighthouses on Lady Elliot Island, at the southernmost tip of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The first was built in 1873, but was decommissioned in 1995 when the second took over the job of warning ships off the reef. Visitors to the island, however, regularly report seeing signs... Read more

Stories of wandering spirits and the restless dead were common in the Middle Ages. These ghostly encounters were recorded in a wide variety of medieval literature.... Read more

My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor from Kostopol, Ukraine. Years after she passed away, I was trying to learn more about her life before the war—something I knew very little about. When I found a book called "Sefer Kostopol"—Hebrew for "Book of Kostopol"—I hoped to find her among its pages.... Read more

Imagine losing your credit card, logging into your bank's website for help and being greeted by a virtual customer service representative who looks and sounds exactly like actor Hugh Jackman. The person helping you isn't actually the Hollywood star—it's his AI-powered digital twin. And new research suggests that familiar face... Read more

More than half (52.5%) of Americans ages 13 to 27 reported gambling in the past year, including 42.7% of teens ages 13 to 17, according to researchers at the Center for Gambling Studies at the Rutgers School of Social Work.... Read more

Research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) shows that childhood poverty, poor living conditions and gender can have lasting impacts on employment opportunities and earnings in India.... Read more

The creator economy is a growing global industry that Goldman Sachs Research reports could be worth $480 billion by 2027. But what is a creator, and what is the difference between a creator and an influencer, a celebrity or everyone else who posts online?... Read more

A large-scale survey of adults in the U.K. shows that hugs are commonly remembered for comfort, support and understanding, according to a study published in PLOS One by Anna Lena Dueren of the University of Bristol, U.K., and colleagues. Notably, individual differences in empathy, attachment patterns in relationships, body perception... Read more

Earlier this year, we convened a meeting of some of the most influential figures in modern happiness research to discuss what they had learned in their 600 combined years of research and professional experience.... Read more

From steroid use to "bone smashing", the "looksmaxxing" movement is only the latest example of the manosphere's toxic hold on young people.... Read more

Australia has no shortage of policies relating to children. In fact, these policies are often in the headlines. Billions of dollars are invested each year trying to improve outcomes for children and young people.... Read more

In Finnish lore, the goddess Kivutar stashes away pain in a mountain for safekeeping. And yet she's also a healer, channeling it into rocks or boiling it down into a less potent form in a huge vat.... Read more

Halloween, the fall holiday and $13.5 billion industry, lurks around the corner.... Read more

It's Halloween night. Someone has dared you to turn off the lights and stand in front of the mirror. The rules are simple: Stare into your reflection and say her name three times.... Read more