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
SocietyCommentary
Evaluation Shows Yet Another Government Program Fails to Produce Results
The Department of Labor has released the results of its two-year evaluation of the federal program Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (RExO), designed to help ex-offenders find… Read More
SocietyCommentary
How Welfare Spending Hurts the People It’s Supposed to Help
Federal and state governments spent $1.02 trillion on welfare in 2014—an increase of $274 billion, or 36 percent, since 2003 after adjusting for inflation. At… Read More
SocietyNews
Meet the Former Addict Who Now Cuts Homeless People’s Hair for Free
Nasir Sobhani knows first-hand the toll addiction and homelessness can take. Which is why these days the recovering cocaine addict and barbershop owner spends his… Read More
EconomyNews
Conservatives Really Do Have a Heart: Arthur Brooks’ Solutions for America
Arthur Brooks was a liberal bohemian musician studying economics when he embarked on a journey that led him to conservatism. He realized, for instance, conservatives… Read More
SocietyCommentary
The Founders’ Model of Welfare Actually Reduced Poverty
Which approach to welfare policy is better for the poor: that of the Founders or that of today’s welfare state? The more we spend on… Read More
SocietyNews
Wisconsin Bill Would Limit Types of Food That Could Be Purchased With Food Stamps
Wisconsin’s State Assembly approved legislation last week that puts in place new rules about what recipients of food stamps may purchase with the benefits. Assembly Bill 177… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Unraveling the Poverty Myths Obama Is Promoting
Our class warrior in chief was at it again last week complaining about our “ideological divides that have prevented us from making progress” in solving… Read More
SocietyNews
Missouri Welfare Reform Bill Would Ban Buying Lobster, Steak With Food Stamps
A bill introduced in the Missouri legislature would limit the types of food that recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits would be able to… Read More
SocietyNews
New Documentary Shows How Community Leaders Are Reducing Poverty
A new miniseries seeks to highlight the stories of people who are successfully reducing poverty—without depending on government. “Comeback,” a feature-length documentary broken up into… Read More
SocietyCommentary
How the Welfare State Penalizes Parents Who Marry
Fifty-one years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the War on Poverty. Since then, taxpayers have spent more than $22 trillion fighting Johnson’s war, three… Read More
SocietyNews
How the D.C. Central Kitchen Became a Place for Second Chances and Fighting Hunger
Located just blocks from the U.S. Capitol, a local food kitchen in Washington, D.C., is changing the way people think about food distribution to those… Read More
EducationNews
About 1 Million Kids Are Now Eating Dinner at School
First came lunch, then breakfast. Now, schools are serving dinner, too. Should schools feed students dinner before they go home? There’s a growing demand for… Read More
SocietyNews
Government Audit Finds Welfare Fraud, Lack of Oversight
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska’s state auditor has unearthed a variety of problems with the way Nebraska doles out welfare and monitors the program, including $11,000… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Omnibus Bill Keeps Welfare Spending at Massive Levels
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty. Since that time, annual means-tested welfare spending has increased by 16-fold, now costing taxpayers nearly… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Few Government-Funded Social Programs Are Ever Tested for Effectiveness
In a recent blog post, Brookings scholar Ron Haskins identifies five social programs as being highly effective and highlights the Obama administration’s “evidence based” policy efforts… Read More
In 2 Charts: Why the ‘War on Poverty’ Should Be Renamed the ‘War on Marriage’
“First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage.” Sort of. I grew up singing the “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” jingle with my… Read More
SocietyNews
How Travis Crockett Leaned on God and Helping Hands to Lift Himself From Poverty and Mean Streets
When he was 5 years old, Travis Crockett saw his mother’s close friend shot dead on the street. “Why are you crying?” his mom asked,… Read More
SocietyCommentary
You’ve Never Heard of This Legislation. But If Passed, It Would Increase the Welfare State.
Before Congress recessed for the midterm elections, lawmakers announced plans to use the current lame-duck session to work on passing a bill called “The Achieving… Read More
SocietyNews
Colorado’s New Welfare Rule Increases Benefits, Costs Taxpayers
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is six months less temporary and millions of dollars more expensive in Colorado after a state Department of Human Services… Read More
SocietyCommentary
How the War on Poverty Has Hurt American Marriage Rates
It is no accident that the collapse of marriage in America largely began with the War on Poverty and the proliferation of means-tested welfare programs… Read More
SocietyCommentary
Food Stamp Recipients, Advocates Sue Over Work Requirements
Most Americans agree that able-bodied adults should be required to do some type of work to receive welfare assistance. But two nonprofit groups and a… Read More
SocietyNews
Indiana to Start Requiring Food Stamp Recipients Work, Be in Job Training, or Job Hunting
Next spring, thousands could be cut from Indiana’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Indiana has previously waived the federal requirement that SNAP recipients are either employed,… Read More
SocietyNews
Taxpayers Spend $40 Million Each Year on a Housing Project That’s Plagued by Mold, Missing Locks, Exposed Wiring
A taxpayer-funded housing project in Memphis has a host of dangerous safety violations, including problems with mold, exposed electrical wiring and missing locks, among countless… Read More
SocietyNews
State’s Welfare Recipients Withdraw Money in Far-Off Places (Hawaii, Las Vegas and Even Virgin Islands)
Taxpayers are apparently buying welfare recipients booze and cigarettes for the road—at times a quite exotic road. An analysis of a Colorado Department of Human… Read More
SocietyCommentary
We’ve Spent $22 Trillion on War on Poverty. What Have We Achieved?
It’s been 50 years now since the federal government launched its “War on Poverty.” But the numbers just released by the Census Bureau suggest we’re… Read More
Scott Walker Proposes Drug Testing for Those Filing for Unemployment Benefits, Food Stamps
MADISON, Wis. — Three years ago, Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry Co. Inc. was begging for workers and struggling to hire candidates who could simply pass a drug test…. Read More
