Who’s watching your kids?
Plus, deportations and worker wages
BRAIN WAVES
Who cares? They say it takes a village to raise a child, and a new study set out to look at that kind of dynamic. Specifically, the study looked at whether getting help with childcare (especially from people who aren’t family) might make adults more generous, reciprocal, and altruistic. They ran experiments with people in small communities from the Solomon Islands, then paired the results with surveys about who helps them with childcare. They found that parents were more altruistic to people who helped with childcare, even when the help came from outsiders like non-relatives. That’s not all. Parents weren’t just generous toward the helpers — they were also more generous toward total strangers who had nothing to do with taking care of their kids. Of course, it might be that these people were more generous to begin with, but either way, the study seemed to find a strong relationship between kindness and getting help with childcare.
Capital none. How does immigration impact the economy? Researchers wanted to know what would really happen to wages, prices, and living standards if the U.S. deported a large share of undocumented workers. Using a large dynamic economic model, they simulated what happens if half of unauthorized immigrants (that is, workers not legally allowed to live and work in the U.S.) were removed from the workforce. In the short run, native workers’ (U.S.-born or naturalized citizens) real wages increase slightly — about 0.15% — mostly because there are fewer workers per unit of capital. But over time, that amount adjusts downward to match the smaller population. That’s when real wages actually fall in every state, by about 0.33% nationally. Meanwhile, prices rise in industries that rely heavily on unauthorized labor (like farming), while most other sectors barely change. Put simply: removing a large chunk of the workforce produces a tiny, temporary wage bump for natives, followed by lower wages in the long run.
Charmed, I’m sure. Charismatic leaders can inspire devotion and give people a powerful sense of meaning. They can also make us vulnerable. Listen to learn more.
HIDDEN BRAIN...NOW ON YOUTUBE
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ON THE HIDDEN BRAIN PODCAST
When It’s Okay to Lie: Should you tell a harsh truth if it will only cause pain? Or is it sometimes kinder to keep someone in the dark?
ON THE MY UNSUNG HERO PODCAST
John’s Story: A few years ago, John’s 12-year-old daughter developed a sudden illness, and for months she could barely leave the house. On the first warm day of the year, he brought her outside. A man drove by, rolled down his window, and said something John will never forget.
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MIND GAMES
You throw a ball as hard as you can and it comes back to you. Yet it doesn’t bounce off anything, there is nothing attached to it, and no one else catches or throws it back to you. How did this happen?
LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE
When you stop to look, you can always see me. But if you try to touch me, you can never feel me. Although you walk towards me, I remain the same distance from you. What am I?
The answer: The horizon
MOMENT OF JOY
Jump on board NASA’s Artemis II
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