Science

In the 2024 election cycle, voters without children are under the microscope.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance has said that “childless cat ladies” and older adults without kids are “sociopaths” who “don’t have a direct stake in this country.”

So it was notable that when pop star Taylor Swift endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, she didn’t simply express her support and leave it at that. She also called herself a “childless cat lady.”

Politicians and others often use the word “childless” as an umbrella term for people who do not have children. But as social scientists who study people without children, we know that this doesn’t capture some important nuances.

Using large-scale demographic data, we’ve found that there are many types of nonparents—and each has its own set of political priorities.

The range of nonparents

Only about 3% of Americans are truly childless, or what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls “involuntarily childless.” Most Americans who do not have children are not childless. They are some other type of nonparent. Social scientists often distinguish several types of nonparents:

• Childless people want children but cannot have them due to circumstances such as infertility.

• Not yet parents are people who do not have children yet, but plan to in the future. They tend to be younger.

• Undecided individuals aren’t sure whether they want to have children.

• Child-free people have decided they do not want children now or in the future.

These distinctions matter. When nonparents are combined into a single group, they seem demographically and politically similar to everyone else.

But each type of nonparent is affected by political issues differently. And some issues are especially consequential for child-free people.

The ramifications of Dobbs

Take abortion rights. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson ended a constitutional right to an abortion. The ruling limited access to reproductive health care in several states and created uncertainty in others.

Some politicians have expressed concerns about the fallout of the Dobbs decision. They’ve pointed to the inability for some not-yet-parents to access reproductive care if complications arise during pregnancy. They’ve also raised the alarm that Dobbs will lead to limits on access to in vitro fertilization for childless couples.

But these concerns are relevant only for people who want to have children. There is usually little talk among politicians and pundits about the importance of reproductive rights for child-free people who do not want to have children.

The share of Michigan adults identifying as child-free rose from 21% before Dobbs to nearly 26% immediately afterward. This increase occurred during a time when there was significant confusion about access to abortion in Michigan because state laws were ambiguous and being challenged in the courts.

Since Dobbs, there has also been a dramatic increase in vasectomies and tubal ligations nationwide. Some of this increase is the result of child-free people now turning to surgery to avoid having children.

Child-free people are overlooked in other areas, too, such as tax policy and in the workplace.

Child-free people pay federal income taxes alongside parents. But both Republican and Democratic presidential platforms have placed a heavy emphasis on expanding the child tax credit, which directly benefits only people who have or will have children. Child-free people work alongside parents. But parental status isn’t a protected category, which could be why child-free people tend to work longer hours and have less leeway to take time off.

Will a new bloc emerge?

Nonetheless, child-free people are primed to play an important role in American politics for several reasons.

First, there are a lot of them.

How many Americans are child-free depends on how you ask them. Data from nationwide face-to-face interviews suggest that around 10% of Americans are child-free. But data from anonymous surveys in Michigan and nationwide peg it at closer to 20% to 25%. If that’s the case, it could mean as many as 50 million to 60 million Americans are child-free.

Second, their numbers are growing. A range of studies suggest that every year, more Americans are reporting that they simply never want to have children.

Third, politicians’ derogatory comments about “childless” people have gotten the attention of child-free people. And they’re starting to organize. For example, Shannon Coulter, the influential activist behind the nonprofit group GrabYourWallet, is bringing them together through the nonpartisan Alliance of Childfree Voters.

It’s too soon to know whether child-free people can be thought of as a distinct voting bloc. But in our research, we found that child-free people in the swing state of Michigan lean liberal. While there are similar numbers of liberal and conservative parents in the state, child-free people who identify as liberal outnumber conservatives 2 to 1.

Given their size, growth, organization and liberal leanings, it may be time for American politicians to think more carefully about how child-free people fit in.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Divisive political opinions are everywhere these days, but entrepreneurs might be wise to bite their tongues.

In a recent analysis of 19,898 Kickstarter campaigns, we found that budding businesses that expressed political views attracted less funding than ones that stayed apolitical.

As professors who study entrepreneurship, we wanted to understand the link between political expression and crowdfunding success. So we looked at thousands of campaigns launched over a two-year period.

We searched the campaigns for subtle expressions of conservative values—”Still remembering that all lives matter, regardless of color or religion and hoping to have made my idea of sandwich shop clear,” to name one example—and more overt ones, like “Drain the Swamp and Defend MAGA Country.”

We did the same thing with subtle liberal perspectives—like “I have become fed up and irritated by the lack of equality and diversity within media”—and overt ones, like “I believe that art matters + and the magic is real. Also: Black lives matter.”

In the end, we found that every percentage-point increase in political speech was associated with a 9% decline in funds raised for conservatives and a 17% decline for liberals.

Our theory, which our findings supported, is that people don’t expect to see anyone sharing political beliefs in a business context. When entrepreneurs violate this expectation, it leads people to view them as unprofessional and ultimately hurts their crowdfunding performance.

The backlash against political speech doesn’t seem to affect everyone equally. Campaigns with third-party endorsements, such as Kickstarter’s “Project We Love” badge, were punished less, we found. Having photos or videos on a campaign page also seemed to reduce the negative effect. An entrepreneur’s prior successful experience was effective when leaning into a conservative, but not liberal, voice.

Why it matters

As entrepreneurs become increasingly vocal about politics, they should understand the potential costs of speaking authentically. Our study shows that funders expect entrepreneurs to be apolitical in crowdfunding and penalize those who express their political values. Although we looked specifically at Kickstarter campaigns, the implications for established businesses, which also seek investment, are obvious.

To be fair, our work also finds evidence that entrepreneurs who come across as more credible—thanks to third-party endorsements, say, or their use of multimedia—are less penalized for political speech. But in general, entrepreneurs should at least consider keeping mum on politics in their funding pitches to ensure they don’t hurt their chances.

What still isn’t known

While we focused on the effect of entrepreneurs’ political speech, a natural follow-up question is whether funders’ political views affect whether they invest in a project. Researchers know that conservatives and liberals approach decision-making quite differently. So we think it’s crucial that researchers turn to this question next. These types of studies will start to provide a more holistic view of how political beliefs affect crowdfunding.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Lowering the cost of health care and prescription drug prices and protecting Medicare and Social Security are among the most important issues for Americans in determining their vote for president, according to a new national West Health-Gallup Poll released today.

Nearly two-thirds say a candidate’s position on Medicare/Social Security (63%) is the single or among the most important issues, followed closely by health care costs (57%). Forty-three percent view access to mental health care as important, an emerging issue now seen as close to the level of importance as prescription drug prices (47%), which have been a concern for many years over multiple elections.

However, despite the importance of these issues to voters, two in three say health care is not yet receiving enough attention in the 2024 presidential campaign, and more Democrats (78%) and independents (66%) than Republicans (53%) hold this view. Only 6% of respondents say it’s getting too much attention, while 27% say it’s getting the right amount.

“Americans remain concerned over high health care prices and the future of Medicare and Social Security even though other issues dominate during this election cycle, and this is especially true for older Americans, a significant voting bloc,” said Timothy Lash, President, West Health Policy Center. “Americans across all political stripes want to know where candidates stand on these critical issues and do not think they’ve heard enough yet. It will be interesting to see how the candidates and political parties address this.”

Independent voters were slightly more likely to report trusting Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in addressing key health care issues, according to the survey. This was especially true for improving access to care and insurance coverage and strengthening Medicare. Independents were more than 10 points more likely to say they trust Harris over Trump when considering these issues.

It is notable that about a third of independents report not trusting either candidate on key health care issues. Republicans and Democrats generally fell along party lines, but more Democrats (about 90%) were trusting of their candidate than Republicans (about 70%).

When asked how likely it is that access to affordable health care will improve in the next five years, many Democrats express optimism, while Republicans and independents are more pessimistic. Fifty-eight percent of Democrats believe access is very or somewhat likely to improve, while majorities of Republicans (70%) and independents (64%) say improvement is not very or not at all likely.

Methodology

The West Health-Gallup Pre-Election Health care Survey was conducted via the web from Sept. 9-16, 2024, with 3,660 adults aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia as a part of the Gallup Panel. For results based on the full sample, the margin of sampling error at the 95% confidence level is ±2.0 percentage points for response percentages around 50% and is ±1.2 percentage points for response percentages around 10% or 90%, design effect included. Reported subgroups will have a larger margin of error, typically ±3 to ±5 percentage points.

Gallup weighted the combined samples to correct for nonresponse. Non-response adjustments were made by adjusting the sample to match the national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education and region. Demographic weighting targets were based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older U.S. population.

In addition to sampling errors, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Undecided voters are less likely to cast their ballot, according to a new study which shows how the fragmentation of the political party system in the UK is fueling low turnout at elections.

The number of citizens undecided in how they’d vote has risen in Western democracies. People are becoming less partisan, meaning they have weaker ties to political parties. There are more parties on the ballot and more voter volatility.

The study, published in Electoral Studies, shows how election participation is lower when citizens are subject to high levels of competition for their vote. People in the electorate are ‘in competition’ when they have similar preferences for more than one party.

Dr. Hannah Bunting, from the University of Exeter’s Elections Centre, found these voters have a ten point lower likelihood of voting than those with a clear political preference. The probability of voting declines from 89.1 percent to 79.2 percent when people are deliberating between two or more parties.

Dr. Bunting said, “Voters are now more indecisive, more likely to switch parties, and generally more volatile and unpredictable in their behavior. My research shows low levels of voting may be related to the more complex choices people have to make, and people becoming more indecisive.”

The British Election Study’s internet panel suggests around 40 percent of voters are undecided. This new analysis shows they are also less likely to intend to vote.

The study says voter turnout improves when people have a partisan identity and pay greater attention to politics.

Dr. Bunting, who used ten years of British Election Study data for the study, said, “This is a positive sign for democracy. Citizens do seem to spend time deliberating between different parties during competitive elections. The expansion and complexity of choice can promote democracy if parties can convince voters to back them before election day.”

The study is also further evidence constituency marginality is not substantially related to individual turnout and partisanship is an important predictor of voting.

At the most recent general election in 2024, polling showed a significant proportion of the British population expressed that they did not know who they would vote for. Turnout at the 2024 general election was the lowest since the 59 percent in 2001.

Dr. Bunting said, “People used to say ‘I’m Labour’ or ‘I’m Tory’ but there are fewer and fewer people with that strong partisan identity now. This is coupled with a greater number of candidates and different types of parties on offer. All of this means people are more likely to abstain from voting. It creates a greater cognitive burden for citizens and this complexity feeds indecision which increases the likelihood of making no choice at all. A high number of undecided citizens may thus result in low turnout rates.”

The study shows people who have a partisan identity have a 29 percent probability of their vote being in competition between parties, whereas for non-partisans this was higher at 54.3 percent.

Those who pay the least attention to politics are 15 points more likely to be in competition than those who pay the greatest amount of attention. Men are less likely to be in competition, as are older citizens. Individual competitiveness is therefore driven by dealignment and low political engagement, alongside age and gender.

Instead of ending a group meeting asking if anyone has any questions, a professor at UT Arlington suggests asking participants if they can think of anything that might go wrong with the plan discussed.

“It helps get people thinking about who could potentially be harmed or if there is a part of the project we’re just not thinking about,” said Logan Watts, an assistant professor of psychology at UT Arlington and lead author on a new study exploring ethical decision-making within teams. “This helps people focus on potential issues before they can become ethical problems.”

The research is published in the journal Science and Engineering Ethics.

Historically, studies on ethical decision-making have focused on individual researchers. However, researchers rarely work alone. Plus, studies on the psychology of groups have shown that people think and behave differently when they work as part of a team rather than alone, so it’s important to understand team dynamics.

“The integrity of scientific enterprises depends a great deal on faith that researchers will ‘play by the rules,'” said Watts. “But that trust can erode quickly when researchers are caught fabricating data, plagiarizing work, failing to disclose conflicts of interest, or engaging in poor research practices that can harm others.”

To better understand the ethics of team decision-making, Watts and fellow psychology assistant professor Michelle Martín-Raugh, along with graduate students Sampoorna Nandi and Rylee Linhardt, interviewed scientists working at a public research university, asking them about their experiences and observations with ethical dilemmas within research.

After recording the interviews, the team transcribed and coded all the data to look for common themes. The most prevalent dilemma reported was research misconduct, with 75% of participants reporting issues around data fabrication, falsifying information, or copying work from another researcher.

The second most reported ethical dilemma was around the protection of human subjects, with 55% of researchers saying they had experienced an issue where a team member was not following ethical procedures surrounding the protection of the rights and welfare of study participants. The participants said that issues could become awkward if the person acting unethically had more seniority over the other members.

Although the current study was exploratory in nature and needs additional research to validate the findings using an experimental design, Watts said it revealed a few tactics that may help teams perform more ethically. One takeaway is the idea of an “ethical champion” who can help the group ensure they are not deliberately or accidentally making ethical mistakes and can also serve as role models for other group members.

“Our study showed that in many groups, a person stepped up to be the ethical champion. This wasn’t a formal designation, but rather, a person who was willing to speak up about ethical values and norms,” Watts said. “In some groups, a team member may be more focused on results, not thinking about some decisions being right or wrong or whether someone could potentially be harmed. This ethical champion was someone who was willing to say something if they saw something amiss.”

Watts also emphasized the importance of fostering an environment where everyone feels empowered to voice concerns.

“It’s important for teams to create a culture of psychological safety within the research group so that people without power feel comfortable speaking up,” Watts said.

Farming is a notoriously hard profession with long hours spent operating dangerous equipment and performing other arduous tasks. New Rice University research finds that Indigenous farm employees—many of whom have legal status in the U.S. after moving from Latin America—may experience more physical pain on the job than undocumented workers.

Researchers Christina Diaz, associate professor of sociology, and Erick Samayoa, a sociology graduate student, are the authors of “Away from Home, Into the Fields: Assessing the Health of Undocumented and Indigenous Farmworkers,” which appears in a recent edition of Social Science & Medicine.

The researchers used data from the National Agricultural Worker Survey (including more than 20,000 respondents) to learn more about the lives of farm workers in the U.S., over 60% of whom are not in the U.S. legally and potentially susceptible to worse working conditions or exploitation.

Diaz and Samayoa found that undocumented workers actually reported better physical health than their Indigenous counterparts. Meanwhile, Indigenous workers were more likely than any other type of worker to report physical pain stemming from their profession.

The researchers said there are different reasons that these individuals may be dealing with more physical pain.

“First and foremost, individuals who migrate to the U.S.—as is the case with many undocumented workers—are usually in excellent health,” Diaz said. “They are youthful and vigorous enough to complete an arduous migration journey and have resources to migrate.”

Meanwhile, Indigenous populations face what Samayoa called a “cumulative disadvantage,” sometimes facing discrimination as Indigenous persons within Latin America prior to migration and once again after coming to the U.S.

“This can include a language barrier, as many of these individuals speak neither English nor Spanish, and as a result, cannot advocate for themselves in the way that many undocumented workers can,” Samayoa said. “We suspect that because this Indigenous population faces so much discrimination and so much socioeconomic difficulty, it may trump any of the benefits that legal status may offer them.”

The researchers say they hope this work sheds light on and will encourage more studies of the complexities of immigrant populations in the U.S. and how they face different challenges depending on their respective backgrounds.

The study was co-authored by Sergio Chavez, an associate professor of sociology at Rice, and Victoria Bejarano, a former University of Houston student.

Despite soaring levels of economic crime, police forces are not fully utilizing the vast resources and expertise available in the private and not-for-profit sectors, warns a new report.

The study is published in the Journal of Economic Criminology.

Economic crime has reached unprecedented levels over the past decade, putting immense pressure on police resources already stretched thin by limited budgets and growing responsibilities.

Experts from Perpetuity Research and the Centre for Cybercrime and Economic Crime at the University of Portsmouth say law enforcement agencies are not taking full advantage of the specialized skills, knowledge, and manpower that exist within the private and not-for-profit sectors.

The private sector, particularly banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions, employ thousands of professionals dedicated to anti-fraud efforts. Similarly, not-for-profit organizations offer specialized knowledge and tools that could bolster public policing efforts.

However, the report suggests this wealth of expertise remains largely invisible and untapped by police forces, representing a massive, wasted opportunity in the fight against economic crime. The authors point out that to their knowledge, no central repository of this information existed before they mapped it out as part of their research.

Co-author, Professor Mark Button, Director of the Centre for Cybercrime and Economic Crime at the University of Portsmouth, said, “Although there are some great examples of collaboration between the police and these sectors, most efforts have been limited to simple data sharing. This has left much of the potential for stronger, more meaningful partnerships untapped, making it harder for law enforcement to tackle the complex and changing nature of economic crime effectively.”

A study released last month by the University of Portsmouth estimated that 26% of adults in the UK (14 million) commit at least one economic crime a year.

The research—which was cited in The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) annual report (pg. 104)—explored how attitudes towards certain “deviant acts” have changed over time by comparing the results of a 2011 study of 2,000 adults with the results of a 2023 study of 1,000 adults.

The new report outlined a number of barriers to joint-working, which must be addressed by police to help improve the approach to tackling economic crime. Interviews with stakeholders revealed some significant hurdles, including divergent objectives, mistrust, and a general reluctance to share information due to concerns about breaching Data Protection regulations and jeopardizing competitive advantage.

These challenges have prevented the development of more robust engagement at all levels that could increase the risks for a range of economic crime offenders.

Dr. Janice Goldstraw-White, Lead Researcher for Economic Crime at Perpetuity Research, said, “It is clear that the police are facing an uphill battle against the rising tide of economic crime, while the private and not-for-profit sectors possess a vast reservoir of largely untapped resources.

“There exists significant potential for enhanced collaboration between these sectors. By not leveraging these resources, the police are missing a critical opportunity to strengthen their response to economic crime and better protect the public.”

The report urges law enforcement agencies to rethink their approach and proactively engage more strategically with external partners. By doing so, they could unlock a wealth of untapped resources, including specialized knowledge, additional funding, and innovative solutions that are currently being developed outside of the public sector. This would enhance the ability of the police to combat economic crime, protect the public, and improve overall policing outcomes.

New fathers who faced economic hardships remained deeply connected to their children despite negative stereotypes, according to a new study.

The men found support from their families and community programs, but the societal barriers often rendered them invisible, forcing them to fight for recognition not just as parents, but as individuals.

The study appears in the Infant Mental Health Journal.

Fathers today are significantly more involved in their young children’s lives than they were several decades ago. This has benefited the child’s development and mothers’ health before and after delivery, the research indicated. But for some men, navigating their emotions—such as depression and happiness—and roles as fathers have been challenging, said study co-author Shawna Lee, professor of social work at the University of Michigan.

Researchers at U-M, Ohio State University and Northeastern University looked at the feelings and experiences of 24 racially diverse, low-income dads in the U.S. during pregnancy, after their babies were born, and in early childhood.

The results indicated the men reported both positive emotions (e.g., joy, happiness) and negative emotions (e.g., sadness, disappointment) across the perinatal and early childhood periods. Fathers also reported feeling encouraged by their social support networks (e.g., family members, fatherhood program staff, other fathers in the community) that further aid their parenting but felt marginalized by systematic barriers (e.g., negative stereotypes and biased images, high incarceration rates of Black fathers).

“In particular, positive experiences and emotions of fatherhood need to be more readily reflected in the images and narratives of media, as well as other areas of American society (e.g., government, academia, health services),” said lead author Joyce Lee, OSU assistant professor of social work.

Another finding showed that the fathers’ negative emotions were associated with positive behavioral intentions, such as resolving to stay involved in their children’s lives and changing behaviors to do right by their children. Fathers also used various creative coping strategies for emotion regulation, she said.

In addition, the researchers point to the importance of health care professionals who come in contact with fathers. They may be in ideal positions to engage in father-inclusive practices, such as inviting expectant dads to share their feelings and wishes around childbirth and more.

A reconstruction of Pacific Ocean temperatures 21,000 years ago, based on the chemistry of tiny shells, adds hefty support to projections that climate change will make strong El Niño events far more common, leading to more extreme weather around the world.

“We’re projecting a pretty dramatic change,” says Kaustubh Thirumalai at the University of Arizona.

The irregular cycle between warmer- and cooler-than-average temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean –…

Scientists have developed a bioinspired yarn capable of harvesting water from fog, providing an innovative solution to water scarcity in arid regions. By imitating the alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic patterns seen in desert beetles and the water-transporting abilities of micro/nanoscale one-dimensional spider silk, this double-strand yarn accelerates droplet formation, offering a promising approach to tackling the global water crisis.

Water scarcity is an increasingly urgent issue, particularly in remote and dry regions where access to fresh water is limited. Conventional methods of atmospheric water collection are often inefficient due to high energy demands or slow water release processes. Nature, however, offers solutions through organisms that have evolved highly efficient water-gathering mechanisms. In response to these challenges, there is a clear need to develop advanced materials that can improve water harvesting efficiency.

In research published in the Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, scientists from the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication and Beihang University unveiled a double-stranded yarn with alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties. Inspired by the water-collecting abilities of desert beetles and spider silk, the yarn, produced using electrospinning and twisting techniques, is designed for high-efficiency fog collection, addressing the critical need for sustainable water sources.

The research highlights the development of a double-stranded yarn made from hydrophobic poly vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) and hydrophilic polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers, inspired by natural fog-collecting organisms like desert beetles and spider silk. Using electrospinning and twisting techniques, the team engineered the yarn with alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic segments, creating a structure that mimics nature’s water-harvesting mechanisms.

The hydrophobic sections promote rapid water droplet accumulation, while the hydrophilic sections enhance the transportation of these droplets, allowing for faster coalescence and collection. When tested in a controlled fog environment, this yarn demonstrated a significant improvement in water collection efficiency, achieving a rate of 3.20 g·h⁻¹·cm⁻².

The combination of hydrophobic water capture and hydrophilic water transport proved to be far more effective than using homogeneous yarns. This innovation presents a scalable solution, offering high performance in fog-rich environments, and could be vital for improving water access in drought-prone regions.

Prof. Yong Zhao from Beihang University, an expert in bioinspired materials, stated, “This advancement shows how biomimicry can drive highly efficient and sustainable solutions to global challenges such as water scarcity. The alternating wettability design emulates nature’s precision, significantly boosting fog collection performance.”

The research has broad implications, particularly for regions facing severe water shortages. The yarn’s scalable and efficient design makes it ideal for use in fog-prone areas, offering a reliable source of freshwater. This breakthrough also paves the way for future innovations in water-harvesting technologies, with the potential to enhance the sustainability of atmospheric water collection systems worldwide.