All Research
Blog Post
Why Congress Shouldn’t Change SNAP’s New Payment Error Approach
Payment errors in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) have received considerable attention in recent months. While much of the debate has revolved around the One Big Beautiful Bill…
Blog Post
Welfare Reform and Its Discontents
…Angela Rachidi, recently analyzed federal spending on children as estimated by Urban Institute researchers. In real, inflation-adjusted terms, expenditures on low-income children in four categories rose 150 percent from 1996…
Op-Ed
Opinion: 30 years of welfare reform and the path forward
Thirty years ago this month, President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), popularly known as welfare reform. When the legislation was signed, no one could have…
Blog Post
Welfare Reform 30 Years Later: How Has Government Assistance Changed?
This month marks the 30th anniversary of welfare reform legislated with bipartisan support by a Republican-controlled Congress and a Democratic President. No piece of social policy legislation has since passed…
Op-Ed
The Path Ahead for Welfare Reform
In the years since the landmark 1996 welfare reform law — which marks its 30th anniversary today — policymakers have missed opportunities to apply its lessons and expand its reach to…
Report
Wisconsin Childcare Subsidies, Regulations Fail for Families
Executive summary While parents play the most important role in early childhood development, having reliable and affordable childcare is another crucial component to helping working families thrive. This chapter explains the current…
Commentary
SNAP’s New Cost Share Requirement Is a Blunt, But Necessary Tool
Last month, the US Department of Agriculture released the most recent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payment error rates. The report found that 10.62 percent of SNAP payments in Fiscal…
Commentary
Lessons from the 1996 Welfare Reform Law Approaching Its 30th Anniversary
…Welfare Reform Angela Rachidi, Matt Weidinger, and Scott Winship, A Safety Net for the Future: Overcoming the Root Causes of Poverty, October 2022 Matt Weidinger, Missing the Big Picture on…
Report
The End of the Food Security Supplement in the Current Population Survey: Next Steps
Abstract Since 1996, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published an annual report on household food insecurity in the United States, which policymakers, program administrators, the media, and researchers…
Report
How to Strengthen the Climb From the Safety Net
Executive summary Wisconsin has long benefited from low poverty rates and relatively high labor force participation relative to the national average. But the state’s safety net faces important challenges. There…
Multimedia
The US Needs a New Safety Net
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5GqvbPBdtV3TAeZFqWmWjH?si=lEX53xj7Smucu3BlHhYjAw Congress is considering a major anti-poverty reform: giving states more flexibility to redesign welfare and social safety net programs. In this episode, AEI Senior Fellow Angela Rachidi joins host…
Op-Ed
Why Mamdani’s Foster Care Cuts Make Sense
…make them safe. Last week, Angela Burton, a child welfare abolitionist who was a short-list candidate to head the ACS, proposed creating a separate New York City Office of Child…