Issue Brief posted March 25, 2013 by Ryan T. Anderson
The Consequences of Redefining Marriage: Eroding Marital Norms
Marriage is society’s least restrictive means of ensuring the well-being of children. State recognition of marriage protects children by encouraging men and women to commit to each other permanently and exclusively and to take responsibility for their children. The norms of monogamy and sexual exclusivity encourage the raising of children by their mother and father. The…
Issue Brief posted March 18, 2013 by Ryan T. Anderson
Marriage Matters: Consequences of Redefining Marriage
The Supreme Court is considering challenges to state and federal laws that define marriage as the union of a man and woman. After lower courts ruled against these marriage laws, the Supreme Court now has the opportunity to uphold the laws and return to citizens and their elected representatives the authority for answering questions about marriage policy.
If marriage…
Issue Brief posted March 11, 2013 by Robert Rector, Rachel Sheffield
How to Get Welfare Spending Under Control
Since the beginning of the War on Poverty, government has spent nearly $20 trillion (adjusted for inflation) on means-tested welfare assistance for the poor. Means-tested programs provide cash, food, housing, medical care, and social services to poor and low-income Americans. Another name for these programs is assistance to the poor or anti-poverty spending.
Currently,…
Backgrounder posted March 11, 2013 by Ryan T. Anderson
Marriage: What It Is, Why It Matters, and the Consequences of Redefining It
At the heart of the current debates about same-sex marriage are three crucial questions: What is marriage, why does marriage matter for public policy, and what would be the consequences of redefining marriage to exclude sexual complementarity?
Marriage exists to bring a man and a woman together as husband and wife to be father and mother to any children their union…
Issue Brief posted March 8, 2013 by Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
A Defining Moment for Marriage and Self-Government
What was once an important debate over the legal status of marriage has emerged as a critical national issue, the resolution of which will shape the future of our society and the course of constitutional government in the United States.
Family is and will always remain the building block of civil society, and marriage is at the heart of the family. Redefining marriage…
Legal Memorandum posted January 25, 2013 by John C. Eastman
The Constitutionality of Traditional Marriage
On December 7, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States announced that it would hear two cases challenging laws that define the institution of marriage as it has traditionally been understood: as a union between one man and one woman.
In United States v. Windsor,[1] the Court will review the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit holding that…
White Paper posted January 22, 2013 by Robert Rector, Jennifer A. Marshall
The Unfinished Work of Welfare Reform
Among the public-policy achievements of the past two decades, welfare reform may simultaneously be the best known and least understood. It is now remembered as a bipartisan triumph that ended “welfare as we know it,” to use President Clinton’s phrase, transforming the character of federal anti-poverty policy. The true history, however, is less august: The struggle to…
Backgrounder posted October 10, 2012 by Dominique Ludvigson
Circumventing Citizens on Marriage: A Survey
Abstract: Despite a history of consistent voter support for traditional marriage, the U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to address questions concerning this foundational social institution. The issue has been forced onto the Court’s docket by activist judges who have overruled democratically established marriage policies and by executive branch officials who have…
Backgrounder posted September 26, 2012 by Robert Rector
Obama's End Run on Welfare Reform, Part Two: Dismantling Workfare
Abstract: Work requirements formed the foundation of the welfare reform law of 1996. However, in July, the Obama Administration issued a directive declaring that states no longer need comply with the law’s work standards. Contrary to media reports, the Obama Administration is not merely “tweaking” the law’s workfare system. Rather, HHS explicitly asserts that it will…
Issue Brief posted September 20, 2012 by Robert Rector
An Overview of Obama’s End Run on Welfare Reform
In July of this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) granted itself authority to “waive compliance” with all of the work provisions in the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program.
HHS has declared that the work requirements written in the law are no longer legally binding on state governments and that they can and will be replaced by…
Backgrounder posted September 19, 2012 by Robert Rector
Obama’s End Run on Welfare Reform, Part One: Understanding Workfare
Abstract: In 1996, Congress enacted welfare reform legislation that included three main elements, the most important being the work requirement. As a result of this reform, welfare caseloads dropped by half and employment rates among welfare recipients soared. Nonetheless, this sparked significant liberal opposition, which has increased over the years even though the vast…
News Releases on September 5, 2012
Heritage Report: Marriage Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty
Washington, D.C., Sept. 5, 2012 – Nearly three out of four poor families with children in America are headed by single parents. When a child’s father is married to his mother, however, the probability of the child’s living in poverty drops by 82 percent.
The collapse of marriage, along with a dramatic rise in births to single women, is the most important…
Special Report posted September 5, 2012 by Robert Rector
Marriage: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty
Abstract:
Child poverty is an ongoing national concern, but few are aware that its principal cause is the absence of married fathers in the home. Marriage remains America’s strongest anti-poverty weapon, yet it continues to decline. As husbands disappear from the home, poverty and welfare dependence will increase, and children and parents will suffer as a result.…
Issue Brief posted September 4, 2012 by Robert Rector
Welfare Work Requirements: Vague Replacement of Work for Welfare
In July, the Obama Administration waived the core work requirements of the historic welfare reform law of 1996, which law required a portion of the able-bodied recipients in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program work or prepare for work as a condition of receiving aid. The new bureaucratic directive from Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services…