November 13, 2007
Hunger Hysteria: Examining Food Security and Obesity in America
By Robert Rector
(WebMemo #1701)
USDA food security data show poverty and hunger in America are linked to widespread obesity; use of food stamps increases obesity among the poor.

August 29, 2007
Census Report Adds New Twist to Income Inequality Data
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(WebMemo #1592)
With the help of a new measure for income inequality, a new report refutes the notion that "the rich are getting richer and the poor ...

August 27, 2007
How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the "Plague" of Poverty in America
By Robert Rector
(Backgrounder #2064)
For most Americans, the word "poverty" suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. But only a small ...

June 13, 2007
Performance-Based Pay Driving Increase in Inequality
By James Sherk
(WebMemo #1505)
Much of the increase in income inequality in recent decades is due to the expanded business practice of paying workers based on their individual levels ...

May 31, 2007
Analyzing Economic Mobility: Measuring Inequality and Economic Mobility
By Paul Winfree
(WebMemo #1478)
There is no comprehensive measure of economic inequality and mobility, but several metrics, used together, can give a more complete picture.

December 13, 2004
Mayors' Claims of Growing Hunger Appear Once Again Wildly Exaggerated
By Melissa G. Pardue, Robert Rector, and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #620)
Is hunger up 17 percent this year? Don't bet on it.

January 5, 2004
Understanding Poverty in America
By Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #1713)
If poverty means lacking nutritious food, adequate warm housing, and clothing for a family, relatively few of the 35 million people identified as being "in ...

June 12, 2003
Sharp Reduction in Black Child Poverty Due to Welfare Reform
By Melissa G. Pardue
(Backgrounder #1661)
For every black child whose economic condition has worsened in the past six years, six have risen out of poverty. But policies that ignore low ...

May 31, 2002
Dissenting Statement to the Report of the Millennial Housing Commission
By Robert Rector
(WebMemo #102)
To improve affordability, we must increase family incomes and reduce governmental policies that restrain housing supply and raise costs. The Millennial Housing Commission report proposes ...

May 1, 2002
Housing Policy and Welfare Reform
By Robert Rector
(Testimony )
Government housing programs should be restructured according to the current principles of welfare reform. First, able-bodied recipients should be required to be fully employed or ...

September 5, 2001
The Good News About Welfare Reform
By Robert E. Rector and Patrick F. Fagan
(Backgrounder #1468)
The 1996 welfare reform began necessary changes to the disastrous old welfare system. The rewards to non-work in the TANF program have been substantially reduced. ...

June 27, 2001
Reforming Food Stamps to Promote Work and Reduce Poverty and Dependence
By Robert E. Rector
(Testimony )
The replacement of AFDC with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF) has led to record declines in dependence and poverty.

May 23, 2001
Understanding Differences in Black and White Child Poverty Rates
By Robert Rector, Kirk A. Johnson, and Patrick F. Fagan
(Center for Data Analysis Report #01-04)
Child poverty is a continuing American problem. This report examines the causes of child poverty and the factors that contribute to racial differences in child ...

September 29, 1999
Income Inequality: How Census Data Misrepresent Income Distribution
By Robert E. Rector and Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(Center for Data Analysis Report #99-07)
Political debate on income in the United States often has been characterized as competition between two schools of economic thought.

September 20, 1999
Successful Welfare Reform Requires State Flexibility on the Minimum Wage
By D. Mark Wilson
(Executive Memorandum #625)
Welfare reform, which has dramatically reduced the number of people receiving public assistance, has altered the debate over the national entry-level minimum wage.

September 1, 1999
The Extent of Material Hardship and Poverty in the United States
By Robert E. Rector, Kirk A. Johnson, and Sarah E. Youssef
(WebMemo #187)
This paper will take an alternative approach to assessing poverty: examining the material living conditions of low-income Americans.

September 18, 1998
The Myth of Widespread American Poverty
By Robert E. Rector
(Backgrounder #1221)
Exposing the truth about America's "poor" and poverty.

September 21, 1990
How "Poor" are America's Poor?
By Robert E. Rector
(Backgrounder #791)
Defining America's "Poor."