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Rita Hamad

@ritahamad.bsky.social

4.1K followers 220 following 200 posts

Professor, social epidemiologist @hsph.harvard.edu • Social policy + health equity • Director https://hsph.me/sphere • Mama, immigrant • Opinions mine

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · Aug 8

Our latest study @jamahealthforum.com shows the harms of work requirements for safety net programs. Women who were subject to harsher requirements and who received less cash assistance from TANF were less likely to breastfeed. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... @donmoyn.bsky.social @hsph.harvard.edu 1/

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Reposted by Rita Hamad

Ambika Kandasamy @ambikakandasamy.bsky.social · 1d

I looked into research about the short and long-term struggles that children living in poverty face, including access to food, healthcare and education.

Thank you to Dr. @ritahamad.bsky.social and Dr. Joseph Llobrera for speaking with me for this story.

What Are Some Challenges of Growing Up Poor in America? | FRONTLINE | PBS | Official Site | Documentary Series

The U.S. has one of the highest child poverty rates among wealthy countries. Here’s a look at struggles kids living in poverty face, including access to food, healthcare and education.

www.pbs.org

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 1d

Postdoc @emilydore.bsky.social @hsph.harvard.edu provided an interview to @healthyfutures.bsky.social discussing the findings of this study, highlighting the importance of social policy design for improving #healthequity. www.healthyfutures.blog/p/how-social... @rwjf.org @policies4action.bsky.social

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 1d

I also chatted with them about my team's research on anti-poverty policies as key drivers of child health. A recent report @nationalacademies.org also describes the role of tax credits in addressing child poverty: www.nationalacademies.org/news/2025/09... @itep.org @centeronbudget.bsky.social 2/2

www.nationalacademies.org

Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks to @frontlinepbs.bsky.social for covering continuing crisis of child #poverty in the US, which harms children & society at large. This is a critical topic in the wake of federal cuts to social safety net programs. www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontli... @ambikakandasamy.bsky.social @hsph.harvard.edu 1/

What Are Some Challenges of Growing Up Poor in America? | FRONTLINE | PBS | Official Site | Documentary Series

The U.S. has one of the highest child poverty rates among wealthy countries. Here’s a look at struggles kids living in poverty face, including access to food, healthcare and education.

www.pbs.org

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 6d

I'm sure this is not unrelated to the recent announcement that Mississippi has an infant mortality crisis, and yet also stopped gathering PRAMS data this year, the only national survey of perinatal and postpartum health. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025... @theguardian.com @cartersherman.bsky.social

Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 8d

Ah, you're right, this is available for members of @societyforepi.bsky.social!

Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 8d

Interested in reading some papers to advance your skills in policy evaluation for #publichealth research? Check out the @societyforepi.bsky.social playlist I put together with Audrey Renson, now available online: epiresearch.org/serlibrary/s...

All SERplaylists – Society for Epidemiologic Research

epiresearch.org

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Reposted by Rita Hamad

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities @centeronbudget.bsky.social · 10d

The Trump Administration is defunding important surveys and undermining federal statistical agencies, suppressing data that would reveal the harmful effects of the Republican megabill’s deep cuts and leaving families’ struggles harder to track. www.cbpp.org/research/pov...

Federal Data Are Disappearing as Statistical Agencies Face Budget Cuts and Political Pressure | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Federal statistical agencies face increasingly overt politicization by the Trump Administration on top of chronic underinvestment, uncertainty, and recent and proposed budget cuts, all of which threat...

www.cbpp.org

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Reposted by Scott L. Greer, Sarah E. Gollust, Rita Hamad

Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law @jhppl.bsky.social · 12d

It's unclear what the exact effect of a national Medicaid work requirement will be, but Aparni Soni et al. offer an important glimpse at who is doing community engagement to the required degree to sustain Medicaid coverage under these terms, & equity implications read.dukeupress.edu/jhppl/articl...

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 14d

Corresponding coverage @nytimes.com : www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/u...

Reposted by Michael D. Green, Sarah Burgard

Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 14d

Latest horrifying news on Trump administration erasing national data: they're ending data collection on food security by Census. Explanation of why this is a big deal: updates.dataindex.us/archive/fors... @npi.ucanr.edu @donmoyn.bsky.social @centeronbudget.bsky.social @popassocamerica.bsky.social

Forsaking Food Security

by Chris Dick and Beth Jarosz How often are Americans concerned that their food will run out before they have money to buy more? Or that they did not have...

updates.dataindex.us

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 15d

Upcoming seminar hosted by #HealthAffairs on "#Immigration Policies and Their Impact on #Health Care," including effects on both patients and the healthcare workforce. Oct 15 at 1pm Eastern. Sign up here: www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/h... @nilc.org @immcouncil.org @kffhealthnews.org

www.healthaffairs.org

Reposted by Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Rita Hamad, Sarah Burgard

Population Association of America @popassocamerica.bsky.social · 15d

House Appropriations Committee Advances Key Spending Bills: Rejects Administration’s Proposed Funding Cuts and Praises Population Research buff.ly/9nu03sX

House Appropriations Committee Advances Key Spending Bills

Rejects Administration’s Proposed Funding Cuts and Praises Population Research

buff.ly

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 17d

And now a moment of levity: my first attempt at #distractedboyfriend meme as I prepare some lecture slides on hypothesis-generation and theory-testing.
#sciencesky #academicsky

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Reposted by Karen Benjamin Guzzo

Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 23d

New podcast @irpwisc.bsky.social w/ Jane Waldfogel @columbiauniversity.bsky.social on importance of US safety net benefits for kids, and how a universal child $$ benefit would be investment in the future. US is among only high-income countries without this benefit: www.irp.wisc.edu/resource/irp...

IRP Book Talk: Jane Waldfogel on Child Benefits: A Smart Investment for America’s Future

Research | Training | Policy | Practice

www.irp.wisc.edu

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 23d

New @jamahealthforum.com by D Cutler: "Worst Piece of Health Care Legislation Ever" on #OBBBA ravaging healthcare for millions. Only disagreement is with: "As bad as it is as economic policy, the bill is worse as health policy." It's pretty terrible on the economy.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

The Worst Piece of Health Care Legislation Ever

This JAMA forum discusses the cuts to US health care spending in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and their impacts on Medicare and Medicaid recipients, physicians, and hospitals, particularly those in ...

jamanetwork.com

Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 24d

New commentary @nam.edu on the critical value of US govt-funded health research, which is currently being dismantled and undermined by Trump administration. nam.edu/perspectives... @warren.senate.gov @edmarkey.bsky.social @massgovernor.bsky.social

Government-Funded Health and Biomedical Research Is Irreplaceable - NAM

For eight decades, the federal government has invested in biomedical and clinical research that has transformed public health, fueled economic growth,

nam.edu

Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 27d

These findings are critical especially to state policymakers seeking to improve safety net benefits, as fed govt makes access harder. Thanks to @rwjf.org, Blue Shield of CA Foundation, Tipping Point Foundation; and co-authors @berkeleypublichlth.bsky.social @npi.ucanr.edu @hsph.harvard.edu 4/4

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Reposted by David L. Anderson

Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 27d

In the second qualitative paper, we examine lived experiences of low-income families navigating pandemic-era safety net programs. Our most surprising finding was how stressful *temporary* benefits are: ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2... @capolicylab.bsky.social @amjpublichealth.bsky.social 3/

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 27d

Even though the EITC is the largest US poverty alleviation policy, we found dramatic barriers to participation in the form of learning, compliance, and psychological barriers, suggesting the need for structural solutions. academic.oup.com/healthaffair... @pamherd.bsky.social @donmoyn.bsky.social 2/

academic.oup.com

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Reposted by Michael D. Green, Mirya R. Holman, Stephen D. Murphy , and 5 more Michael D. Green, Mirya R. Holman, Stephen D. Murphy, José Antonio Noguera, David L. Anderson, Florencia Torche, Stephen Pimpare, David Darmofal

Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · 27d

Thrilled to co-author 2 recent qualitative papers that perfectly demonstrate the importance of mixed methods research to inform US policy. In the first aptly titled "It's confusing as hell" we examined lived experiences of low-income people applying for the EITC. academic.oup.com/healthaffair... 1/

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · Aug 22

For many policies - like #childtaxcredit & #EITC - we found no/few studies examining breastfeeding, despite importance of this practice to promote maternal & child health. Future studies will be stymied by reduced access to federal data like PRAMS. doi.org/10.1542/peds... @hsph.harvard.edu 3/3

doi.org

Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · Aug 22

We also describe how #paidleave policies have consistently been shown to support breastfeeding. The US is the only high-income country without a national leave policy, although states are increasingly filling this gap. doi.org/10.1542/peds... @paidleaveforall.bsky.social 2/

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · Aug 22

New paper @ameracadpeds.bsky.social w/ Dr. Whaley @phfewic.bsky.social summarizes studies on US social policies to promote breastfeeding, e.g. how work restrictions for many safety net policies ⬇️ women's ability to breastfeed: doi.org/10.1542/peds... @npwf.bsky.social @urbaninstitute.bsky.social 1/

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · Aug 20

Thanks to @hsph.harvard.edu for a great summary of this important work, with important implications for recent ⬆️ work requirements & ⬇️ generosity of US safety net policies: hsph.harvard.edu/news/breastf... @irpwisc.bsky.social @npwf.bsky.social
Original article: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

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Reposted by Rita Hamad

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health @hsph.harvard.edu · Aug 13

Researchers who had their federal funding terminated by the Trump administration—and later had it restored thanks to a federal judge’s ruling—say that the process of getting their projects moving again has been marked by confusion and delays.

After some federal grants reinstated, researchers struggle to restart projects | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

hsph.harvard.edu

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Reposted by Michael J. Allen, Rita Hamad, Stuart Shapiro

Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · Aug 11

New analysis from CBO of the "Big Beautiful Bill" shows the bottom 20% get poorer, not much change for most of America, & the top 10% get meaningfully richer - and that's before tariffs

The "Big Beautiful Bill" was the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in a single law in history

bottom 20% poorer, top 10% 2.7% richer, everyone else 0.1 to 1.5% better off.

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · Aug 8

Study was led by brilliant SPHERE postdoc @emilydore.bsky.social and funded by @rwjf.org @policies4action.bsky.social, with powerful accompanying commentary @jamahealthforum.com: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

State Policy Changes and Unconditional Cash Transfers to Improve Maternal and Child Health

“While far from perfect, this legislation provides an historic opportunity to end welfare as we know it…,”1 said President Bill Clinton in 1996. He signed into law a measure that ended the entitlement...

jamanetwork.com

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · Aug 8

Our study used data from the CDC Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, a program shuttered by the Trump administration. Future studies won't be able to examine policy impacts as we did, hampering future policymaking. www.newsfromthestates.com/article/rese... @rwjf.org @marchofdimes.org 3/3

Researchers say moms and babies are ‘going to get hurt’ by federal pregnancy data team cuts

In the remote villages of Alaska where social worker Laura Norton-Cruz works to improve maternal and infant health, there are no hospitals.Pregnant patients, almost all of whom are Alaska Native, ofte...

www.newsfromthestates.com

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Rita Hamad @ritahamad.bsky.social · Aug 8

Of note, the new "One Big Beautiful Bill" imposes harsher work requirements on #SNAP & #Medicaid. Our study suggests negative #publichealth impacts of such legislation will be wide-ranging. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... @urbaninstitute.bsky.social @irpwisc.bsky.social @epi.org @npwf.bsky.social 2/

Easing Cash Assistance Rules and Breastfeeding

This quasi-experimental study assesses the association between Temporary Assistance for Needy Families policy changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and breastfeeding initiation and duration among likel...

jamanetwork.com

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