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November 7, 2024

Introducing the “More Accurate Consumer Price Index”

Abstract Particularly since the 1990s, federal statistical agencies have worked to improve the ability of various price indexes to measure changes in the cost of living. However, in recent years,…

October 11, 2024

It’s time to face up to our social poverty problem

Over the past half-century, virtually all aspects of social life have deteriorated in America. We spend less time with fewer friends, form fewer families and have turned away from organized civic life and religious institutions. We trust…

October 2, 2024

The effect of taxes and transfers on low-earning workers’ income.

Despite misperceptions that the United States is limping through late-stage capitalism, American workers are more highly compensated than ever before—even the lowest earners. The 20th percentile earner—worse-off than 80 percent…

September 17, 2024

The Future of Work

Since Generation Z has begun entering the workforce, debates swirl around whether young Americans are working too much or not enough. Following Scott Winship’s article in Fusion, Young Voices and…

September 11, 2024

Doing Right by Kids: A Book Event

Event Summary On September 11, AEI’s Scott Winship gathered distinguished experts to launch the new edited volume Doing Right by Kids: Leveraging Social Capital and Innovation to Increase Opportunity, a call…

September 10, 2024

America is Still Working

Sometimes it seems like Americans can’t decide whether we work too much or too little. We hear that because of rising inequality and a lack of good jobs, workers must…

September 10, 2024

Event: New Census Data on American Families’ Economic Well-Being

Event Summary On September 10, AEI’s Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility gathered leading experts to analyze the new poverty and economic numbers from the US Census Bureau for 2023….

August 29, 2024

The Distribution of Social Capital across Individuals and its Relationship to Income

Abstract There have been several attempts to measure social capital—the value inhering in relationships—at an aggregate level, but researchers lack comprehensive individual-level social capital measures. Using a combination of direct…

July 26, 2024

Two Cheers for Shrinking Black-White Opportunity Gaps

The latest in a series of important reports on social mobility by the research group Opportunity Insights is out, and it’s another conversation-changer. Across a variety of outcomes in adulthood…

June 18, 2024

Economic Opportunity and Social Mobility

Years ago, I worked at the Pew Charitable Trusts on something called the Economic Mobility Project. In 2009, we commissioned a survey covering opportunity, mobility, and the American Dream. One…