COSM’s commentary page is home to timely analysis of pressing topics.
2023 Contributions
By Scott Winship
DO 60 PERCENT OF AMERICAN WORKERS HAVE INSECURE JOBS?
October 5, 2023
American Compass has a new survey out in which it finds, among other results, that “only 40 percent of workers have secure jobs.” This is the latest attempt by the outfit to portray the American economy as in dire need of “rebuilding.” The report summarizing the findings is titled, “Labor Market Not Yet Working for Workers.” Like American Compass’s previous attempts at empirical analysis, this one is far too doomerist.
By Kevin Corinth
CHANGING THE OFFICIAL POVERTY MEASURE WOULD HELP RICH STATES AND HURT POOR STATES
October 5, 2023
Declaring the Supplemental Poverty Measure the new official measure would increase eligibility for major means-test programs in higher income states while remaining largely unchanged in lower income states. Federal aid would also be reallocated from higher income states to lower incomes states. Congress should therefore preempt the Administration from changing the official poverty measure.
By Matt Weidinger and Scott Winship
Putting This Year’s Poverty Numbers in Context
September 15, 2023
On Tuesday, the Census Bureau released its latest income and poverty estimates covering calendar year 2022, including two assessments of poverty in America.
By Scott Winship and Thomas O'Rourke
Working from Home Has Increased More Modestly Than Many Believe
September 6, 2023
Many of the most widely-cited work-from-home researchers find that working from home has increased by a factor of 8 between 2019 and 2020, we find that it rose by a factor of 3–more than 60 percent lower.
By Matt Weidinger
Another Pandemic Legacy: Removing the EITC’s Work and Earnings Requirement
August 3, 2023
Overall, between 1975 and 2022, the EITC cost taxpayers a total of $1.8 trillion, which includes both tax relief ($212 billion) as well as its far larger benefit payments ($1.6 trillion) that exceed recipients’ federal income taxes paid, confusingly dubbed “refundable tax credits.” But despite that history of generous and growing support for work, some liberal policymakers are now proposing to pay EITC checks even for years when adults don’t work, fundamentally altering the nature of this pro-work program.
By Leslie Ford
The Debt Ceiling Deal Refocuses TANF on Employment and Self-Sufficiency
July 17, 2023
While the safety net can deliver on its promise to alleviate material deprivation, the long-term goal should be for all parents and their children to break out of the cycle of dependence and poverty through self-support and social mobility.
