Featured Reports

A New Equilibrium

Credit card holders are seeing stabilized interest rates, the elimination of overlimit penalty charges, a reduction in late fees charged by banks and minimal changes in annual fees since the Credit CARD Act of 2009 took effect.

Antimicrobial Resistance and Human Health

The problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is growing in the United States and worldwide. This report explores the scope of the AMR problem and what can or should be done about AMR from the standpoint of animal agriculture.

Automatic Investment: Improving 401(k) Portfolio Investment Choices

Self-direction of investments is a common feature of 401(k) plans, but it is not working as well as it could. Employees frequently fail to diversify their investments or rebalance their portfolios over time. One concern is that workers often invest too large a share of their 401(k) savings in their employer’s stock, which can prove especially costly: if the employer falls on hard times, workers stand to lose not only their jobs but also their retirement savings. But even when the plan sponsor does not collapse, poor investment choices impose unnecessary risk on workers, threaten the level and security of retirement income, and reduce the public policy benefits from 401(k) tax preferences.

Building the Science Foundation of a Modern Food Safety System

During the past 20 years, those working to prevent foodborne illnesses in the United States–whether in government, industry, academia, or the consumer advocacy community–have made major progress in understanding food safety as a farm-to-fork challenge that necessitates science-based efforts throughout the system. Numerous reports have called for a more risk-informed and data-driven approach to U.S. food safety, and legislation currently being considered in Congress includes provisions to strengthen the scientific basis of the nation’s food safety system.

Common Sense Reforms to Promote Retirement Security

As the baby boomers near retirement, defects in the nation’s private pension system are becoming obvious. Only about half of workers contribute to an employer-sponsored pension plan in any given year, and Individual Retirement Account (IRA) participation rates are substantially lower. Among workers with tax-preferred retirement saving plans, few make the maximum allowable contribution. And despite the many private savings incentives, many households approach retirement with meager funds.

Converting Basic Financial Services Fees into Prosperity

12 percent of California households lack a bank account and pay fees to cash checks and pay bills, adding up to $700 annually for the typical unbanked household.  The majority of these households appears to be qualified for bank accounts, but is either misinformed about the relative cost of banks or distrustful of them.

Current Law Provides FDA with Authority to Mandate Safety Standards for Produce

Legal analyses by the Congressional Research Service and by the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University conclude that FDA has sufficient authority under existing law to adopt produce-safety regulations.

Disclosure of Industry Payments to Physicians

This Prescription Project survey shows Americans are eager to understand financial ties between physicians and pharmaceutical industry.

Enhancing FDA’s Evaluation of Science to Ensure Chemicals Added to Human Food Are Safe (Pre-Workshop Materials)

The workshop, co sponsored by Nature journal, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), and the Pew Heath Group, brought together more than 80 scientists and and policymakers to develop a shared understanding of the current system FDA uses to assess the hazards of chemicals added to human food and explore opportunities to strengthen that system.

Fees and the Unbanked

The Pew Health Group’s Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project investigated checking accounts offered by the ten largest U.S. banks, which held nearly 60 percent of the nation’s deposit volume.

View an interactive graphic presenting a state-by-state overview of Underbanked or Unbanked households.

Harvest on the Horizon

The increasing use of modern biotechnology in agriculture has generated significant debate, much of which centers on the rapidly growing use of food crops that have been genetically modified to make them more resistant to pests or chemical herbicides. As a result, the debate has not usually addressed the potential products of agricultural biotechnology that are on the horizon.

Health Impact Assessment: National Nutrition Standards for Snack and a la Carte Foods and Beverages Sold in Schools

Updating national nutrition standards for snack foods and beverages sold in schools could help students maintain a healthy weight and increase food service revenue, according to a health impact assessment by the Kids’ Safe & Healthful Foods Project and the Health Impact Project.

Watch a video examining the impact of updated USDA standards for snack and a la carte foods and beverages.