All Research
Report
What Can We Learn From Guaranteed Basic Income Pilots In the United States? Evidence on Employment Effects
…patterns related to the pilots’ timing or most of the participants’ demographic characteristics. We suggest caution in relying on evidence from these pilots to inform future policy debates regarding a…
Blog Post
Welfare Reform and Its Discontents
…but so did welfare reform. By the time PRWORA became law, over half the states were experimenting with time limits, work requirements, and other reforms through major federal waivers. The…
Testimony
Welfare Reform and Its Discontents
…the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). As a 23-year-old community organizer fresh out of college, I was convinced the law would prove disastrous. But by the time…
Op-Ed
Did Fraud Drive Blue States’ Pandemic Unemployment Funds?
…by Michigan, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Nevada at 11 times as much, and New Jersey at 10 times as much. Some differences among states are expected, for several reasons. The number…
Op-Ed
30 Years of Welfare Reform And the Path Forward
…are better off than at any time before 1996, due in large part to welfare reform. It is easy to forget that the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s brought many…
Blog Post
Welfare Reform 30 Years Later: How Has Government Assistance Changed?
…with such a broad reach on a bipartisan basis. The 30-year anniversary is a good time to reflect on how government-provided cash assistance for low-income families has changed since August…
Report
Rings to Roofs, Part I: One Million Homes Through Marriage
…Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) construction. In subsidy-equivalent terms, Rings to Roofs produces a value of roughly $2,700 per marriage annually (vouchers), or a one-time federal $30,000 cost (LIHTC). Marriage differs…
Op-Ed
The Path Ahead for Welfare Reform
…other safety net programs, notwithstanding some recent success in extending work requirements to Medicaid and food assistance. It’s time for a new round of welfare reforms that build upon the…
Op-Ed
Status Defines Friendship for Too Many Americans
…over time, through institutions and shared settings. For many men, unstable work — transient gig jobs, uncontrollable schedules — allows only for the creation of tenuous, easily breakable ties. A…
Commentary
How Fixing SNAP’s Payment Error Rate Formula Would Change State Cost Shares
For the first time in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), starting in FY2028 states will be liable for a share of SNAP benefit costs. Each state’s…
Op-Ed
The Ongoing Battle to Defend Welfare Reform
Welfare reform replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) 30 years ago this month. At the time, opponents warned that child poverty would…
Blog
The Misleading Narrative About the ‘Hollowing Out’ of the Middle Class
…set of thresholds that change over time as the cost-of-living increases but otherwise don’t change. If you have two and a half times the federal poverty guideline in 2025 or…