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March 5, 2026
Summary and Analysis of the “Stop Unemployment Fraud Act”
Background This week, senior House and Senate Members are introducing legislation designed to prevent a repeat of runaway fraud and abuse that afflicted unemployment benefit programs during the COVID-19 pandemic….
March 5, 2026
States Can Strengthen Families and Fight Welfare Dependence and Fraud
For six decades, Washington has waged a War on Poverty with ever‑increasing sums of money. According to the House Budget Committee, federal means‑tested welfare spending now exceeds $1 trillion a year, with more…
February 26, 2026
Young Men’s Earnings over the Long Run – An Update
…inaccurately negative as an empirical matter. Fully 70 to 75 percent of Americans near the age of 40 believe that they have higher real income than their parents did at…
February 25, 2026
On the Federal Deficit, Picking the Low-Hanging Fruit Won’t Be Enough
…in only one corner of the federal budget. But that can’t obscure the bigger picture, which shows how little else matters until Americans and the politicians they elect get serious…
February 9, 2026
Medicaid’s Multiple Roles
Matt Weidinger’s December 2025 commentary argued persuasively that complexity has become an impediment to rational reform of the nation’s safety net. By approving scores of new programs across several decades,…
January 21, 2026
Funding the Administration of Unemployment Benefits: Overview and Reforms to Improve Efficiency and Program Integrity
Executive Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant flaws in the nation’s unemployment insurance (UI) system, which resulted in the improper payment of at least $191 billion—and potentially upwards of $400…
January 12, 2026
The “Upward Mobility Act” Seeks to Overcome Benefit Cliffs
Recent scandals in Minnesota have spotlighted billions of dollars lost to welfare fraud across multiple food, health, and childcare programs. Yet even when not being actively ripped off, those programs can still…
December 23, 2025
The Policy Lessons from Minnesota’s Massive Welfare Fraud
Numerous reviewers have spotlighted shocking welfare fraud perpetrated by members of the Somali community in Minnesota. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Kim Strassel (“The Lesson of Minnesota’s Fraud”) recently…
December 9, 2025
Has Marriage Fallen Because Young Adults Can’t Afford Homes?
…with anecdotes. Conclusion It matters a lot for important questions of policy which is closer to the truth: economic factors, such as the cost of homeownership, are depressing marriage; or…
December 2, 2025
What To Do About Benefit Cliffs?
…will help those capable of working get the help they need, without preventing them from working their way up the income ladder. Angela Rachidi and Matt Weidinger are both Rowe…