May 2, 2023
In Next Recession, Don’t Let Uncle Sam Be Uncle Sucker Again
Following recent bank failures, expectations for a recession have revived. If unemployment rises significantly, Congress will likely re-open its stimulus policy playbook — including by extending unemployment benefits. Yet given an increased focus on containing federal spending, there could be constraints on how much Congress provides. How can policymakers best target future federal aid? They should start by ensuring…
May 1, 2023
Promoting Mobility Through SNAP: Toward Better Health and Employment Outcomes
Abstract The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is among the nation’s largest safety-net programs, helping low-income households afford food, improve nutrition, and support employment. As program expenditures continue to grow, assessing SNAP from the perspective of employment and health outcomes is crucial. We analyze administrative and survey data to document trends in employment and health…
April 1, 2023
Minimum Wages and Poverty: New Evidence from Dynamic Difference-in-Differences Estimates
Advocates of minimum wage increases have long touted their potential to reduce poverty. This study assesses this claim. Using data spanning nearly four decades from the March Current Population Survey, and a dynamic difference-in-differences approach, we find that a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage is associated with a (statistically insignificant) 0.17 percent increase…
February 1, 2023
The Change in Poverty from 1995 to 2016 Among Single‐Parent Families
Whether poverty has risen or fallen over time is a key barometer of societal progress. Between 1970 and 2020, the official poverty rate in the United States fell by just 1.2 percentage points (9.5 percent), suggesting limited economic gains for the disadvantaged despite large investments in anti‐poverty programs. In contrast, several recent studies have found much…
January 7, 2023
Personal Responsibility, Not Victimhood, Is the Path to Success
There are too many barriers that stand in the way of the American dream for black and Hispanic young adults — from failing schools to unsafe streets. Unfortunately, Covid made these barriers worse, as wrong-headed lockdown policies in many of our public schools deepened learning gaps between white children and black and Hispanic children, and spiraling crime rates…
December 9, 2022
“Automatic Stimulus”: How It Would Have Increased the Record Unemployment Benefits Paid During the Great Recession and Pandemic
Key Points Read the PDF. Executive Summary The COVID-19 pandemic saw unemployment claims reach a high of over 33 million in June 2020—over two and a half times the prior record set during the Great Recession. From March 2020 until temporary federal programs expired in September 2021, nearly 1.6 billion weeks of benefit checks were…
November 17, 2022
American Renewal: Launching a New Conservative Policy Book with Paul Ryan and Angela Rachidi
Event Summary On November 17, AEI’s Paul Ryan and Angela Rachidi launched their new volume, American Renewal: A Conservative Plan to Strengthen the Social Contract and Save the Country’s Finances (AEI, 2022). In his opening remarks, Speaker Ryan noted our unique social and political moment, contending that many Americans are suffering at the hands of…
November 3, 2022
Child Poverty: Trends and Outlook
Spotlight hosted an engaging and substantive discussion on recent trends in childhood poverty. The event, held with the support of the Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, was moderated by Aparna Mathur, Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center. The panelists were Dana Thomson of Child Trends, Samuel…
September 30, 2022
Off Track: An Assessment of Wisconsin’s Early Care and Learning System for Young Children
Preface Raising children, as can be fully appreciated only after you’ve done it, takes place in realtime. They eat, sleep and grow whether you’re ready or not. So as parents supply childrenwith the most crucial material treasure they ever will receive — a stable, loving home — manyrely on some outside help in caring for…
September 21, 2022
Lessons from the Unprecedented Fraud and Abuse of the Unemployment Benefits System During the Pandemic
Chairman DeSaulnier, Ranking Member Allen, and other members of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, thank you for inviting me to testify at this morning’s hearing examining the administration of the Unemployment Insurance system. My name is Matt Weidinger, and I am a senior fellow and Rowe Scholar in poverty studies at the…