March 11, 2025
An Evaluation of Cost Saving Reforms of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
AbstractCongress is considering ways to reduce spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by…
February 28, 2025
Less Than Half of Medicaid Recipients Work Enough to Comply With a Work Requirement
Congress is considering implementing work requirements for Medicaid. This reform could help Congress achieve its…
February 4, 2025
The Family First Act Would Expand Net Income Tax Refunds to Higher Income Families
Some pro-family conservatives are rallying around Rep. Blake Moore’s (R-UT) Family First Act. Relative to a clean extension…
January 24, 2025
The Targeting of Place-Based Policies: The New Markets Tax Credit Versus Opportunity Zones
Abstract For a place-based policy to succeed, it must target the right areas—typically those with…
January 21, 2025
President Trump’s USDA Should Fix Food Stamp Work Requirement Waivers
A 2019 regulation would tighten the criteria states use to waive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents. Under existing policy, states can qualify for waivers using several broad criteria and can group contiguous areas together, allowing many counties to receive waivers even when unemployment rates are relatively low. Using county-level data from 1997 to 2023, simulations show that the 2019 rule would substantially reduce waiver eligibility, increase the responsiveness of waivers to changes in local unemployment, and better target waivers to areas with the weakest labor markets.
January 17, 2025
Reforming Work Requirement Waivers in SNAP
December 30, 2024
Coverage, Counter-cyclicality and Targeting of Work Requirement Waivers in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program limits benefits for able-bodied adults without dependents unless they work at least 20 hours per week, but states have historically been able to waive this requirement in areas deemed to have weak labor markets. A new county-level dataset of waivers from 1997 to 2023 shows that waivers expanded substantially over time and were somewhat responsive to unemployment changes but were frequently granted in counties with relatively low unemployment. Simulations indicate that specific waiver rules—particularly the 20 percent unemployment rule and the ability to group counties—significantly increased waiver coverage and weakened targeting to areas with the weakest labor markets.
October 18, 2024
Pro-Marriage Conservatives Should Reject a Per-Child Phase-In of the Child Tax Credit
Earlier this week, scholars from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Niskanen Center, and…
September 19, 2024
Government Benefit Programs Already Do a Lot to Help Low Income Families
Politicians, policy analysts, and advocates have proposed increasing the generosity of the Child Tax Credit…
September 11, 2024
Doing Right by Kids: A Book Event
Event Summary On September 11, AEI’s Scott Winship gathered distinguished experts to launch the new…
August 30, 2024
Harris’s Child Tax Credit Plan Punishes Working Families
Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced an economic plan for her presidential campaign. A centerpiece…
August 24, 2024
Harris’s Child Tax Credit Proposal Could Backfire, Perpetuating Poverty
A centerpiece of Vice President Harris’ newly released economic plan is a revamped Child Tax…