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Rachel Cohen

Rachel Cohen

Policy Correspondent

Rachel Cohen is a reporter who focuses on US social policy. Based in Washington, DC, she keeps a close eye on the politics influencing policy development and the leaders, activists, and researchers spearheading those ideas.

She writes stories about housing, like the rise of tent encampments, evictions, and the nation’s housing supply shortage. She reports on education and child care, like the dearth of after-school programs, the pandemic’s academic toll, and school funding litigation. She has reported extensively on abortion politics in the post-Roe era and covers economic policies like the expiration of the expanded child tax credit and the consequences of rising interest rates for workers.

Rachel has been covering social policy issues in DC for more than a decade, with reporting published in more than two dozen national outlets including the New York Times, the Atlantic, Bloomberg, the Daily Beast, and the Washington Post.

She welcomes your ideas and questions. You can email her at rachel.cohen@voxmedia.com, find her on Twitter at @rmc031, or message her on Signal at 1-202-681-6194.

Latest articles by Rachel Cohen

Will cheap housing lead to more babies?Will cheap housing lead to more babies?
Policy

The connection between housing and fertility rates has a missing piece.

By Rachel Cohen
The invisible homeless crisis that official statistics missThe invisible homeless crisis that official statistics miss
Homelessness

Working full time and homeless in America.

By Rachel Cohen
The immigration crackdown threatening to break America’s child care systemThe immigration crackdown threatening to break America’s child care system
Immigration

What happens if the people caring for American children get deported?

By Rachel Cohen
Trump is on track to ditch a time-tested approach to combating homelessnessTrump is on track to ditch a time-tested approach to combating homelessness
Homelessness

The Project 2025 plan called to end “housing-first” policies.

By Rachel Cohen
This workplace benefit is helping parents — and boosting businesses. Could it backfire?This workplace benefit is helping parents — and boosting businesses. Could it backfire?
Child Care

Most Americans have no access to employer-sponsored child care. That could soon change.

By Rachel Cohen
Why Americans are moving in with strangers twice their ageWhy Americans are moving in with strangers twice their age
Housing

Spare bedrooms are America’s next housing market.

By Rachel Cohen
A New York abortion doctor faces a $100,000 fine in Texas. It’s part of a larger playbook.A New York abortion doctor faces a $100,000 fine in Texas. It’s part of a larger playbook.
Abortion

Red states are testing their power to restrict abortion nationwide.

By Rachel Cohen
The surprising theory that explains modern American lifeThe surprising theory that explains modern American life
Housing

Why don’t you move?

By Rachel Cohen
This didn’t start with DOGEThis didn’t start with DOGE
Donald Trump

Elon Musk is using the anti-teacher playbook against the entire civil workforce.

By Rachel Cohen
Trump’s new passport rules are trapping transgender Americans in bureaucratic limboTrump’s new passport rules are trapping transgender Americans in bureaucratic limbo
Politics

“Can I leave the country, and how can I leave the country?”

By Rachel Cohen and Kelsey Piper