At the American Enterprise Institute Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility, which I run, we’re rolling out our new policy catalog, Opportunity Book, with proposals related to five issues: child support enforcement, child tax credit, early childhood education, earned income tax credit, and higher education. Opportunity Book is a searchable database of federal policies from COSM scholars and affiliates to expand opportunity. We’ll be adding dozens of proposals from other policy areas—such as Medicaid, workforce development, and child welfare—over the coming weeks.

We’re also debuting our revamped website, which looks much cleaner than before. One new feature of the site is the “Spotlight on Work Incentives” page. There we’ve highlighted three previously published pieces each by Kevin Corinth, Robert Doar, Angela Rachidi, Matt Weidinger, and me on the importance of work incentives in evaluating safety net policies, as well as a few multi-authored pieces. Beyond these highlights, on the webpage you can find many more briefs, op-eds, essays, and reports we’ve written on the importance of work.

I’m (relatively) new to AEI, having arrived mid-2020, and I realized that some of what I’ve written in the past exists off the AEI website. I figured I’d list some of this research here, alongside the pieces highlighted on the COSM page. These pieces cover my evolution from a center-left sociology grad student who believed that the 1996 welfare reform would harm families to a center-right AEI scholar who believes work incentives are important enough to dedicate a Substack post to them. What a long, strange trip, etc…

“How Did the Social Policy Changes of the 1990s Affect Material Hardship Among Single Mothers? Evidence from the CPS Food Security Supplement,” with Christopher Jencks, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Faculty Research Working Papers Series, No. RWP04-027 (June, 2004)

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=600601

“Welfare Reform Worked—Don’t Fix It,” with Christopher Jencks, Christian Science Monitor (July 21, 2004)

https://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0721/p09s02-coop.html

“Understanding Welfare Reform,” with Christopher Jencks, Harvard Magazine (November 1, 2004)

https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2004/11/understanding-welfare-re-html

“Welfare Redux,” with Christopher Jencks and Joe Swingle, The American Prospect (February 21, 2006)

https://prospect.org/2006/02/21/welfare-redux/

“Safety-Net Reforms to Protect the Vulnerable and Expand the Middle Class,” Room to Grow: Conservative Reforms for a Limited Government and a Thriving Middle Class, YG Network (May, 2014)

https://web.archive.org/web/20160911165338/http://conservativereform.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Room-To-Grow.pdf

“Would a Block-Granted Safety Net Mean Less Aid to Families?” Forbes.com (July 31, 2014)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottwinship/2014/07/31/would-a-block-granted-safety-net-mean-less-aid-to-families/

“Will Welfare Reform Increase Upward Mobility?” Forbes.com (March 26, 2015)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottwinship/2015/03/26/will-welfare-reform-increase-upward-mobility/

“Welfare Reform Reduced Poverty And No One Can Contest It,” Forbes.com (January 11, 2016)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottwinship/2016/01/11/welfare-reform-reduced-poverty-and-no-one-can-contest-it/

“Welfare Reform’s Success and the War on Immobility,” Law and Liberty Forum (May 6, 2016)

https://lawliberty.org/forum/welfare-reforms-success-and-the-war-on-immobility/

Poverty After Welfare Reform, Manhattan Institute (August 22, 2016)

https://manhattan.institute/article/poverty-after-welfare-reform

“Why the 1996 Welfare Reform Benefited Poor Children,” National Review (September 1, 2026)

https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/09/welfare-reform-child-poverty-1996-law-poor-children/amp/

“Yes, the ’96 Welfare reform Helped Reduce Child Poverty,” National Review (September 7, 2016)

https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/09/welfare-reform-child-poverty-reduced-1996-prwora/

“The Romney Child Allowance Proposal Is a Move in the Wrong Direction,” AEIdeas, American Enterprise Institute (February 4, 2021)

https://www.aei.org/opportunity-social-mobility/the-romney-child-allowance-proposal-is-a-move-in-the-wrong-direction/

“The Conservative Case Against Child Allowances,” American Enterprise Institute (March 5, 2021)

https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/the-conservative-case-against-child-allowances/

“Do People Know What’s Good for Them? An Argument for Conditioning Cash Transfers,” RealClearPolicy (May 7, 2021)

https://www.aei.org/op-eds/do-people-know-whats-good-for-them-an-argument-for-conditioning-cash-transfers/

“Deprivation Is Not Simply a Material Matter,” Education Next (July 6, 2021)

https://www.aei.org/articles/deprivation-is-not-simply-a-material-matter/

“Reforming Tax Credits to Promote Child Opportunity and Aid Working Families,” American Enterprise Institute (July 29, 2021)

https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/reforming-tax-credits-to-promote-child-opportunity-and-aid-working-families/

“New Evidence on the Benefits and Costs of an Expanded Child Tax Credit,” AEIdeas, American Enterprise Institute (October 7, 2021)

https://www.aei.org/opportunity-social-mobility/new-evidence-on-the-benefits-and-costs-of-an-expanded-child-tax-credit/

“Did a National Academy of Sciences Committee on Poverty Reduction Overstate the Benefits and Understate the Costs of a Child Allowance?” American Enterprise Institute (December 16, 2021)

https://www.aei.org/research-products/working-paper/did-a-national-academy-of-sciences-committee-on-poverty-reduction-overstate-the-benefits-and-understate-the-costs-of-a-child-allowance/

“Second Time’s the Charm?” with Yuval Levin, National Review (June 15, 2022)

https://www.aei.org/op-eds/second-times-the-charm/

“How Much Would Creating a Child Allowance Reduce Work Among Parents?” American Enterprise Institute (December 9, 2022)

https://www.aei.org/research-products/working-paper/how-much-would-creating-a-child-allowance-reduce-work-among-parents/

“The True Cost of Expanding the Child Tax Credit,” New York Times (December 20, 2022)

https://www.aei.org/op-eds/the-true-cost-of-expanding-the-child-tax-credit/

“The Work Incentive and Employment Effects of Eliminating the Child Tax Credit’s Annual Income Requirement,” with Kevin Corinth, Angela Rachidi, and Matt Weidinger, American Enterprise Institute (January 19, 2024)

https://www.aei.org/research-products/working-paper/the-work-incentive-and-employment-effects-ofeliminating-the-child-tax-credits-annual-incomerequirement/

“Per-Child Benefit in Wyden-Smith Child Tax Credit Bill Would Discourage Full-Time Work for Families with Multiple Children,” with Kevin Corinth, AEIdeas, American Enterprise Institute (January 29, 2024)

https://www.aei.org/opportunity-social-mobility/per-child-benefit-in-wyden-smith-child-tax-credit-bill-would-discourage-full-time-work-for-families-with-multiple-children/

“How Sensitive Are Single Mothers’ Work Decisions to a Change in Incentives? Correcting Misperceptions of the Evidence,” with Kevin Corinth, COSM Commentary, American Enterprise Institute (January 30, 2024)

https://www.aei.org/articles/how-sensitive-are-single-mothers-work-decisions-to-a-change-in-incentives-correcting-misperceptions-of-the-evidence/

“The Wyden-Smith Child Tax Credit and Work: Responding to Critics,” with Kevin Corinth, COSM Commentary, American Enterprise Institute (January 31, 2024)

https://www.aei.org/articles/the-wyden-smith-child-tax-credit-and-work-responding-to-critics/

“Research by a Top Biden Administration Economist Reinforces the Importance of Work Incentives in the Child Tax Credit and the Safety Net,” COSM Commentary, American Enterprise Institute (February 6, 2024)

https://www.aei.org/articles/research-by-a-top-biden-administration-economist-reinforces-the-importance-of-work-incentives-in-the-child-tax-credit-and-the-safety-net/

“Another Flawed Analysis Shows That Single Mothers Are Highly Sensitive to Changes in Work Incentives,” COSM Commentary, American Enterprise Institute (February 8, 2024)

https://www.aei.org/articles/another-flawed-analysis-shows-that-single-mothers-are-highly-sensitive-to-changes-in-work-incentives/

“Options for Improving the Child Tax Credit Provisions in H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024,” with Kevin Corinth, Leslie Ford, Angela Rachidi, and Matt Weidinger, COSM Commentary (February 27, 2024)

https://www.aei.org/articles/options-for-improving-the-child-tax-credit-provisions-in-h-r-7024-the-tax-relief-for-american-families-and-workers-act-of-2024/

“An Early Look at the Child Tax Credit Changes in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024,” with Kevin Corinth, American Enterprise Institute (March 28, 2024)

https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/an-early-look-at-the-child-tax-credit-changes-in-the-tax-relief-for-american-families-and-workers-act-of-2024/

“Critiquing Bastian (2022, 2023, 2024, and Forthcoming): On Child Tax Credit Reform and the Sensitivity of Single Mothers to Work Incentives,” American Enterprise Institute (May 16, 2024)

https://www.aei.org/research-products/working-paper/critiquing-bastian-2022-2023-2024-and-forthcomingon-child-tax-credit-reformand-the-sensitivity-of-single-mothers-to-work-incentives/

“Work Requirements For Medicaid could Increase Income and Reduce Poverty,” Civitas Outlook (June 17, 2025)

https://www.aei.org/articles/work-requirements-for-medicaid-could-increase-income-and-reduce-poverty