March 2, 2021
Democrats’ Stealth Plan to Enact Universal Basic Income
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 temporarily expanded the child tax credit by increasing benefit amounts, making the credit fully refundable (that is, payable without regard to earnings for the first time), and distributing payments monthly. The effect was a child allowance providing monthly government benefit checks to parents regardless of work—a de facto universal basic income for parents. That temporary policy shift moved away from the framework established by the 1996 welfare reform law, which ended the widespread payment of work-free welfare checks.
February 5, 2020
Work Is the Best Policy for Poverty
The Badger State has a revered work ethic. After all, it is named for the…
January 29, 2019
Policies Favoring Welfare over Work Are Not Answers for Ending Poverty
The American policy debate is undergoing an important change. Some influential Democrats no longer view…
September 7, 2018
Closing Argument on Farm Bill: Work Requirements in SNAP Will Reduce Poverty
With Congress considering adding work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food…
August 1, 2018
How Effective Are Work Requirements?
US safety-net programs already use work requirements to address potential work disincentives, and evidence suggests they increase employment and earnings among recipients capable of work. Critics often cite welfare-to-work experiments from the 1990s as evidence against work requirements, but the most relevant programs in those evaluations—“jobs-first” approaches that emphasized rapid employment—produced substantial gains in work and earnings. Although research on work requirements in programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid is more limited and subject to measurement challenges, broader evidence indicates that participation in safety-net programs can reduce employment incentives, implying that work requirements could offset those effects.
June 4, 2018
For SNAP to Work, It Must Emphasize More Work
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) has a significant flaw: It does…
March 20, 2018
The Truth About Medicaid Work Requirements
Following up on an important policy change to reorient safety net programs toward work, the…
November 29, 2017
Congress Needs a Pro-Work Agenda for Financial Security of Americans
At the time this piece was prepared, labor force participation had fallen to a 20-year low, raising concerns that job creation from tax reform may not translate to sustained economic growth without more workers entering the labor force. This piece argues that increasing labor force participation, particularly among low-income and nonworking adults, requires a pro-work policy agenda that reforms safety-net programs to encourage employment and expands tax provisions that reduce the cost of working, such as refundable childcare tax credits. Strengthening work incentives in welfare and tax policy is essential for supporting economic growth and employing more Americans.
February 2, 2017
Will Trump Choose Work over Welfare?
In his inaugural address, President Trump promised to “get our people off of welfare and back to…
April 21, 2014
10 Welfare Reform Lessons
New York City’s welfare system is managed out of a boxy 25-story office building on…