All Research
Blog Post
Welfare Reform and Its Discontents
…Welfare as We Knew It By the time PRWORA was enacted, momentum for welfare reform had been building for years. Policymakers and the public increasingly objected to a safety net…
Report
A Review of the Wide Variation Across States in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Benefit Funding
Abstract Federal lawmakers created major temporary unemployment benefit programs during the pandemic, which collectively distributed a record $700 billion to unemployed individuals nationwide. Little attention has been paid to wildly divergent…
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
…costs for families, policymakers often advocate for increased subsidies to providers or families. However, the effectiveness of this approach is undermined by evidence showing government assistance, including childcare funding, was a major…
Commentary
How Fixing SNAP’s Payment Error Rate Formula Would Change State Cost Shares
…in additional federal savings, illustrates the potential federal savings once the transition provisions no longer apply, starting with FY2027 payment error rates that determine FY2030 cost shares. As policymakers consider…
Op-Ed
The Ongoing Battle to Defend Welfare Reform
…for upper-income families) that didn’t depend on whether parents worked or not. In other words, policymakers should provide unconditional cash aid to low-income families without a work requirement attached, just…
Blog
The Misleading Narrative About the ‘Hollowing Out’ of the Middle Class
…movement into better-than-middle-class communities. And how does this change the dynamic for policymakers, Scott, given that this narrative is so much different that they’re hearing on a daily basis? That’s…
Op-Ed
Thirty Years Later, Welfare Reform Is Still a Model That Works
…the dole, including noncitizens, inmates, and drug addicts, yielding major and continuing savings for taxpayers. Policymakers and the public interested in more personal responsibility and work and less welfare dependence…
Commentary
Lessons from the 1996 Welfare Reform Law Approaching Its 30th Anniversary
…housing agencies to apply work requirements and time limits to housing assistance. Lawmakers should expand those reforms by further strengthening work incentives, applying time limits to reduce dependence, and holding…
Report
Family Structure, a Key Factor Hidden in Plain Sight: The Case for Federal Reporting in Education
…race, family income, and student sex. • NAEP should regularly report family structure data to enable policymakers, educators, parents and the general public to better understand factors affecting student outcomes….
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…
Op-Ed
Americans Still Believe in Work. The AI Crowd Hasn’t Gotten the Memo
…of us.” The improvements include “direct payments to the American people” and more government-provided healthcare, education, and housing assistance. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has similarly called for “tax AI and…