Black women in the United States are roughly 50% more likely than White women to give birth prematurely. A new study co-authored by Feinberg assistant professor Alexa Freedman, IPR associate Ann Borders, and IPR health psychologist Greg Miller shows that Black women living in Chicago neighborhoods with discriminatory law enforcement practices and unequal schools were more likely to give birth preterm compared with Black women living in neighborhoods without these characteristics. 

Most Americans say that inflation is one of the top problems facing the nation. New research by IPR computational linguist Rob Voigt and his colleagues looks at how U.S. newspapers have reported on inflation from 1923 to 2025. The study reveals how explanations for rising prices have shifted over time—and how news coverage is linked to public expectations about future inflation.

A new study by IPR political scientist Mary McGrath finds that voters reject politicians who retaliate against corporate critics, providing evidence that voters react even more harshly when politicians from their own party use their position to punish critics. McGrath conducted the research with 2024 alums Evan Myers and Anna Wander, a former IPR summer undergraduate research assistant.