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Research Archive

June 10, 2026

New York Families Are Doing Better Than You’ve Heard

Is the middle class in danger? On social media and in the news, Americans regularly…

June 8, 2026

What Liberals Get Wrong About the Middle Class

It’s a common refrain: The middle class is hollowing out; Americans overall are increasingly falling…

April 30, 2026

Chicago’s “Disappearing Middle Class” Can Be Found in Its Proliferating Upper Middle-Class Neighborhoods

In a recent report with Stephen Rose, I argued that the narrative of a “shrinking middle…

April 11, 2026

There Are Many Reasons to Cheer Up About the State of the Middle Class

This piece originally appeared at National Review Online and is reprinted here with permission. Statistics show that…

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:…

November 30, 2025

Our Economy Is Not Stagnant

Both sides of the political aisle are misleadingly bleak about the state of the American…

November 26, 2025

How Not to Redefine Poverty

I tried to let it go. Someone mentioned the essay to me on Monday, when…

October 15, 2025

Don’t Choose Your Own Adventure: Understanding Middle-Class Earnings Trends

What should we make of earnings trends in the United States? People can differ in…

August 8, 2025

Revise the Messenger

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported out the latest employment numbers on Friday, August 1, finding…

June 17, 2025

Work Requirements For Medicaid Could Increase Income and Reduce Poverty

New Congressional Budget Office figures last week indicate that the reconciliation bill passed by the House…

May 7, 2025

Did ‘China Shock’ Throw Millions of Americans Out of Work?

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that “3.7 million Americans lost their…

March 27, 2025

The Looming Debt Crisis, the Trump Tax Cuts, and Medicaid

Let’s start with a chart to understand the dire fiscal situation we are in as…