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October 31, 2023
It Takes Two
…in the landmark Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which overhauled the nation’s welfare system. Notably, employment of single mothers, especially the least skilled, rose sharply beginning in the early…
October 30, 2023
The Effect of Elevating the Supplemental Poverty Measure on Government Program Eligibility and Spending
Abstract A recent National Academy of Sciences report recommends elevating the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) to the “nation’s headline poverty statistic.” I project how making the SPM the official poverty…
October 30, 2023
Does Wage Theft Vary by Demographic Group? Evidence from Minimum Wage Increases
Using Current Population Survey data, we assess whether and to what extent the burden of wage theft — wage payments below the statutory minimum wage — falls disproportionately on various…
October 27, 2023
Food Insecurity in the US and Inflation
…Although the changes to the survey were minor (i.e. changing the order of questions, changing the phrasing of certain questions, etc.), even small changes can affect statistics in large national…
October 27, 2023
What Happened to the American Dream?
…of national well-being, such as life expectancy, fared worse” in America than elsewhere. But to the extent that broadly shared prosperity depends on having rising wealth to share and redistribute…
October 24, 2023
Testimony: The Consequences of Redrawing the Poverty Line
…much is “enough” can be determined by science. If the SPM were elevated to the “nation’s headline poverty statistic,” the key recommendation of a recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,…
October 20, 2023
Revenge of the Rust Belt: The Surprising Forces That Have Made the Midwest the Hottest Housing Market Around
…American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center, predicts that these plodders will probably persist as the nation’s best performing locales in 2024. “Believe it or not, cities like Cleveland, Columbus, and Pittsburgh…
October 17, 2023
Understanding Poverty Measurement
COSM scholars and AEI affiliates include some of the nation’s foremost experts on poverty measurement. On October 17, COSM gathered several of these scholars to provide a primer on opportunity…
October 17, 2023
What Poor Children Need
…households with married parents, and work incentives in social spending programs. There is growing evidence that both sides are right. A new book-length report published by the US National Academy…
October 12, 2023
The GOP Should Be the Party of Parents
…both nationwide and in key battleground states, now trust Republicans more than Democrats on education — reversing a decades-old trend. The Democrats gave parents the impression that their children were…