All Research

January 13, 2026

Major Changes Coming to SNAP in 2026

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps) is an important safety-net program that helps reduce hunger and decrease poverty among US households. At the same time, SNAP has significant flaws that make it inefficient, less effective than it could be, and in some cases harmful to upward mobility. However, recent actions by…

By Angela Rachidi

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 unintentionally yield negative outcomes, such as when they discourage work and keep families trapped in government programs for too long. That’s the message of a…

By Angela Rachidi | Matt Weidinger

January 6, 2026

The Middle Class Is Shrinking Because of a Booming Upper-Middle Class

Abstract Populists on both the political left and right routinely claim that the middle class has been hollowed out. These claims, to the extent they are based on evidence, rely on a relative definition of the middle class, such that if income doubles for every family, the middle class does not grow. Using an absolute…

By Scott Winship | Stephen J. Rose

December 29, 2025

To restore hope for families in poverty, let states lead on welfare reform

The holiday season offers a renewed sense of hope for many American families. But for those stuck in poverty, that hope can be short-lived. One of the most perplexing aspects of America’s social welfare system is that it works against two critical factors for families wanting to escape poverty: work and marriage. With help from…

By Angela Rachidi | Nic Dunn

December 23, 2025

If you care about poverty, ditch the ACA expanded subsidies

My AEI colleague Mark Warshawsky recently wrote an excellent summary of policy reasons not to extend the COVID-era enhanced ACA subsidies. His explainer adds to a substantial body of work (examples here, here, and here) describing the policy problems with the enhanced subsidies, notwithstanding their largely positive treatment in the popular media. Another important reason…

By Angela Rachidi

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 described how “Somali fraudsters bilked taxpayers out of more than $1 billion” while arguing the policy lessons extend well beyond Minnesota’s border. She’s right about…

By Matt Weidinger

December 11, 2025

Trump Family Policy Fails to Deliver at the One-Year Mark

When President Trump tapped J.D. Vance as his pick for Vice President, it seemed likely that the second Trump administration would place special emphasis on family policy. Prior to his political career, Vance highlighted fertility decline as a core issue. As a politician, Vance continued to emphasize fertility and family policy, suggesting it’s necessary to…

By Vanessa Brown Calder

December 10, 2025

How Misreading Somali Poverty Led Minnesota into Its Largest Welfare Scandal

The billion-dollar pandemic-era social service billing fraud perpetuated mainly by Somali immigrants in Minneapolis is shocking in its scale. That Minnesota public officials would have turned a blind eye to one of the largest state welfare scandals in American history, for fear of being viewed as racist, should surprise no one. For years, the state…

By Howard Husock

December 9, 2025

Has Marriage Fallen Because Young Adults Can’t Afford Homes?

If you’ve been on social media in the past ten years, you’ve surely seen it: The lamentation that it’s impossible for young adults in America today to buy a home of their own. It’s a complaint as likely to be offered by populist conservatives as by Taylor Lorenz-style progressives. The new right’s emphasis on family…

By Scott Winship

December 2, 2025

What To Do About Benefit Cliffs?

Everyone wants poor families to work their way off welfare and ascend the income ladder. Yet an increasing number remain trapped on government benefits, struggling to support themselves. Some blame the recipients, politicians, the economy, racism, or even capitalism. But few focus on perhaps the most obvious factor – government programs themselves, which actively discourage…