A large body of research has demonstrated that apartment buildings and other types of multifamily housing can provide many benefits to a community, especially when built in high-demand areas where housing is badly needed. Multifamily housing can boost economic opportunity and foster growth while improving affordability; by increasing the availability of housing near jobs, stores, and transportation, it can also reduce commute times, traffic, energy consumption, and water usage.
In 2025, state legislatures enacted unprecedented reforms to improve the availability and affordability of housing, with lawmakers in Texas, Washington, and Montana leading the way with major successes. These states passed bills that target multiple regulatory barriers to increased housing—from parking requirements to building codes—demonstrating how individual reforms can cumulatively bring substantial policy change.
As artificial intelligence grows in popularity, new data centers must accommodate the systems’ enormous need for energy. At the same time, household energy usage is rising throughout the United States. These increasing demands for electricity are stressing our nation’s aging electric grid.
The urgency to build more homes grows as the nation confronts a widespread housing shortage, estimated at 4 million to 7 million homes. To combat this problem, policymakers are embracing manufactured housing—homes built in a factory according to a federal standard—as a fast and efficient solution for communities that need new single-family homes.
Most Americans buy their homes using mortgages, but millions take different approaches. Some pay with cash, others inherit properties from family members, and still more use alternative financing arrangements. Alternative financing is often used by homebuyers who are unable to get a mortgage, either because their property does not qualify for a standard loan or because a shortage of small mortgages makes it difficult for them to access financing. Instead, these buyers turn to alternatives that can be risky and costly, with few consumer protections.
In one of the world’s most urbanized coastal environments—the waters around Hong Kong—pressure from human activities is threatening the vulnerable Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, known locally as the Chinese white dolphin.
It’s not exactly news that Americans are mistrustful of their federal government. What you may have heard less about is that trust in some historically respected institutions has also taken a hit in the post-pandemic years.
The annual “fall back” in the U.S. from daylight saving time to standard time creates a seasonal hazard for many drivers: navigating familiar routes at familiar times but now in darkness instead of daylight. In many parts of the country, this is exacerbated by wildlife on roadways—deer, big game, and other animals that only days before were easier to see and avoid.
The reported funding gap for state pension plans—the disparity between promised benefits and available assets—was $1.32 trillion in 2023, according to 50-state data collected by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Millions of Americans are behind on their retirement savings goals, and nearly 70% of those already retired wish they had started saving earlier. But Gen Z, the latest generation to enter the workforce, is an outlier, with the data showing that they are saving more than millennials and putting new emphasis on planning for the future. What gives?
A category of widely used chemicals has been found to disrupt the human endocrine system. Research indicates that this disruption can increase the risk of health problems such as reproductive disorders, cancer, diabetes, and more.
In this episode of “After the Fact,” Dr. Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, an addiction medicine specialist, and Pew’s Frances McGaffey discuss the latest trends related to alcohol use, its normalization in American culture, and the evolving science behind its risks.
