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June 18, 2024

Donald Trump is an Outlier on the Right: When It Comes to Fidelity and Marriage, Democrats Face Bigger Problems

The political and legal fallout of Donald Trump’s affair with Stormy Daniels has not only complicated his run for the presidency, but it has also raised a deeper concern: Has the Republican standard bearer’s marital misbehavior eroded our collective commitment to the values and virtues that sustain the institution of marriage? On the left, journalist…

June 17, 2024

Child Support Policy: Areas of Emerging Agreement and Ongoing Debate

The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) system is important in providing resources to children who live apart from one of their parents. This is especially true in poor households. In this paper, we summarize the case in favor of the current CSE system, and address some key critiques. We then consider some long-term issues of concern,…

June 17, 2024

Fixing the Roof on Sunny Days—and Other Lessons in Administering Unemployment Benefits

A recent hearing of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare confirmed that the financing of the nation’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) system is enormously complicated. Even the name of the federal payroll tax (FUTA—short for the Federal Unemployment Tax Act that authorizes it and pronounced “few-ta”) is confusing. That complexity sent subcommittee members searching…

June 15, 2024

Reimagining Early Education

For years, conservatives have dropped the ball on early childhood education policy, almost entirely ceding the playing field to the left. This has led to programs that lack guidance from some important conservative intuitions, like fiscal restraint, the centrality of family and the power of markets. Early childhood education is a crucial kitchen-table issue for…

June 13, 2024

The Family-to-Prison-or-College Pipeline: Married Fathers and Young Men’s Transition to Adulthood

A growing minority of young men are floundering. “Failure to launch” is a description that’s all too common. Consider working a stable job—a decent proxy for whether someone has their life together. For young men (ages 16-24), labor force participation rates are dropping. In 1980, the share of young men who were looking for or had a…

June 13, 2024

Why Married Fathers Matter

The eighth grade girls cleaned up at the middle school graduation I attended last week. Of the four major awards, three went to girls, and just one to a boy. This pattern is all too typical in American life today. Two-thirds of high school students in the top 10% are girls, while boys dominate the…

June 13, 2024

A Deal to Trump Student Loans

Last month, President Joe Biden bragged about how he forgave another $7 billion in student loans. “The Supreme Court blocked me,” he said, “but they didn’t stop me.” These billions were added to the administration’s tab that already exceeds $400 billion. And that doesn’t count the $500 billion the Supreme Court blocked him from forgiving, or the over $1 trillion he’s effectively trying to…

June 12, 2024

Our Homeless Problem is Getting Out Of Control — What Can We Do?

The ongoing debate over fining individuals for sleeping in public spaces is currently being deliberated by the Supreme Court in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson. The case underscores a critical juncture in how we address homelessness. While the court’s decision will undoubtedly carry weight, it risks overshadowing the more pressing issue at hand: the urgent…

June 11, 2024

The Social Workplace: A Compendium

Key Points Executive Summary In an era marked by a decline in social capital across American institutions, the workplace has become a crucial arena for fostering social connections. Through their careers, Americans not only satisfy their economic needs but also find personal fulfillment, build social networks, and seek—and often discover—a sense of meaning and purpose…

June 10, 2024

Employment and Labor Supply Responses to the Child Tax Credit Expansion: Theory and Evidence

AbstractThe 2021 Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion increased government benefits to families, andespecially to families with the lowest incomes. Economic theory predicts that this policyintervention would have led to a reduction in labor supply among adults in those families. Ourreview of available research suggests that employment within broadly defined demographicgroups was not reduced by the…