Economy Commentary
Kansas Required Work for Food Stamps. Here’s What Happened.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “No country can sustain, in idleness, more than a small percentage of its numbers. The great majority must labor at something… Read More
SocietyFeature
A Preacher Turned Lawmaker and His New Campaign to Win the Old War on Poverty
Greensboro, N.C.—Mark Walker spent his childhood in and out of prison. He wasn’t an inmate, but the chaplain’s son at one of Alabama’s minimum-security state… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Maine’s Successful Welfare Reform and Why It Worked
States are often the best laboratories for testing out what public policies will make life better for their citizens. Maine’s experiment with welfare reform is a… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Why More States Are Requiring Work Requirements for Food Stamps
Newspaper headlines have been bemoaning that more states will now have to require adults on food stamps—who are able-bodied and without dependents—to work. Since 2009,… Read More
SocietyNews
Welfare System Is ‘Anti-Work,’ Researchers Say
The war on poverty is a war on work, the authors of a new book that criticizes the nation’s welfare system assert. Phil Harvey, chief… Read More
SocietyCommentary
How Liberal Policies Destroyed Black Families
This piece has been adapted from Crystal Wright’s new book: “Con Job: How Democrats Gave Us Crime, Sanctuary Cities, Abortion Profiteering, and Racial Division.” It’s well… Read More
SocietyCommentary
8 Conservative Policies That Will Reduce Poverty
According to a new Associated Press/NORC poll, 72 percent of Americans rate “reducing poverty” as “extremely” or “very important.” This includes 62 percent of Republicans,… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Self-Sufficiency, Not Government Spending, Should Be the Measure of Antipoverty Progress
This week President Barack Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services reached the startling conclusion that if massive welfare programs such as food stamps and… Read More
SocietyNews
Hold the Lobster. This New York Legislator Wants to Prevent ‘Luxury’ Purchases With Food Stamps
Food stamp recipients in New York could be barred from using their benefits to purchase “luxury” items like steaks and lobsters if a bill makes… Read More
InternationalCommentary
The Green Energy Goal That Is Condemning Many to Prolonged Poverty
Poverty and energy poverty go hand in hand. It is estimated that three billion people still rely on solid fuel (firewood, cornstalks, etc.) for cooking, which,… Read More
SocietyNews
Terrorists Won’t Be Eligible for Welfare Under This Congressman’s Plan
A congressman plans to introduce legislation Monday that would block terrorists from receiving food stamps. “I am shocked that our current law does not prevent… Read More
SocietyNews
$12 Billion Obama Plan Would Give Lunches to Poor Children in the Summer
The Obama administration proposes to provide free lunch to millions of children who lose access to the subsidized meals once the school year comes to… Read More
SocietyNews
Another State Looks to Drug-Test Welfare Recipients
A bill that would require drug tests for welfare recipients is slated to be introduced by two Republican lawmakers in South Dakota. State Rep. Lynne… Read More
SocietyNews
Conservatives Ponder Rerun of Legislative Play to Push Welfare Reform
Conservatives are considering whether to redeploy a fast-track process known as reconciliation to advance welfare reform and other policy goals in 2016. They ran that… Read More
SocietyCommentary
How the Expensive War on Poverty Failed
“This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.” – President Lyndon B. Johnson, State of the Union address, January 8,… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Here Are the Police Officers the Media Should Have Talked About in 2015
2015 was a rough year for American law enforcement. There has been a seemingly unending chorus of anti-police protests, accentuated by inflammatory and often dangerous… Read More
SocietyCommentary
The Surprising Power of a Gift of ‘No’
As ads for holiday gifts proliferate on the Internet, the airways, and newspapers, the saga of one surprising present—the gift of “no”—captivated participants at The… Read More
SocietyCommentary
By One Measure, 95.5 Million Are Dependent on the Federal Government
How many people are dependent on the federal government? That’s a hard nut to crack. Counting people who rely on the government to sustain their… Read More
SocietyNews
Food Stamps Won’t Buy Soda and Candy If This State Gets Its Way
Some taxpayers consider it a sweet idea: Trim the purchase of soda and candy from the benefits provided to food stamp users. The state of Maine… Read More
SocietyFeature
This Rehab Center Lifts Men and Women From Hopelessness of Poverty to Homeownership
Recovering addict Leann Lecik says her problems all began when she had surgery in the mid-2000s. The former pharmaceutical representative and national sales consultant was… Read More
SocietyNews
How Michigan’s Welfare Population Declined by 70% in 4 Years
Since Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder assumed office, the number of welfare recipients in the state has declined by a staggering 70 percent, according to a… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Many Who Are Trapped on Welfare Don’t Apply for Jobs
There are jobs are out there, according to data released Nov. 12 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The question is, who wants them? The… Read More
SocietyCommentary
When It Comes to Prosperity and Poverty, the UN Still Doesn’t Get It
The announcement last week that Angus Deaton of Princeton University won the 2015 Nobel Prize in economics offers an opportunity to celebrate the gains the… Read More
SocietyNews
What’s Behind Maine’s 22% Decrease in Food Stamp Recipients Since 2012
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has announced that the state has fewer than 200,000 recipients enrolled in its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for… Read More
SocietyCommentary
How We Should Help the Poor Escape Poverty
The Census Bureau’s most recent poverty data was released last week. Predictably, vast expenditures on anti-poverty programs have not budged the numbers: more than 45… Read More
SocietyCommentary
The 4 Types of Poverty, and How to Cure Them
Over the past 10 years, in spite of massive and growing funding of America’s anti-poverty agenda, the percentage of individuals able to support themselves free… Read More
SocietyCommentary
US Spends Far More on Social Welfare Than Most European Nations
The U.S. Census Bureau has released its annual poverty report. Conventional wisdom holds that the U.S. has a small social welfare system and far more… Read More
SocietyCommentary
The Redistributive State: How Government Shifts Economic Resources from High- to Low-Income Households
This week, the U.S. Census Bureau will release its annual report on income and income inequality. Historically, the official Census figures on inequality are misleading… Read More
SocietyNews
Study: Half of Immigrant Households Used at Least One Welfare Program
The majority of immigrants in the U.S. receive some form of government welfare, significantly outpacing native-born Americans who use benefit programs, according to a study… Read More
SocietyCommentary
In 2008, Fewer Than 30 Million Used Food Stamps. Now 46 Million Do.
Good news: The number of Americans using food stamps in 2014 declined slightly from the previous year. So why does the 2015 Index of Culture… Read More
