102. Do Government Programs Solve Poverty? What REALLY Works for American Renewal w Angela Rachidi of AEI | Ep. 24

In LPP Episode #24, I interview Dr. Angela Rachidi about the influence that government safety nets have on people and what should done instead for an American Renewal that best lets people prosper.

Hello Friends,

Dr. Angela Rachidi, Senior Fellow and the Rowe Scholar in poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute, joined me on the last episode of the Let People Prosper show in 2022. 

We discuss her newly edited book published by AEI "American Renewal: A Conservative Plan to Strengthen the Social Contract and Save the Country's Finances" (with former Speaker Paul Ryan). Our discussion includes:  

1. How government-run poverty "relief" programs often trap individuals in the cycle of poverty;   

2. How the free market can work to lift people out of poverty; and   

3. Poverty predictors and practical steps to addressing these issues to let people prosper.

You can watch this interview on YouTube or listen to it on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or Anchor (please share, subscribe, and leave a 5-star rating).

Angela Rachidi’s bio (here):

• Angela Rachidi is a senior fellow and the Rowe Scholar in poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where she studies poverty and the effects of federal safety-net programs on low-income people in America. She is an expert in support programs for low-income families, including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Child Care and Development Block Grant, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. She also studies the effects of the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit on low-income American families, particularly on their work and income. Her research focuses on the relationship between employment and poverty, specifically the effectiveness of government programs and policies on increasing employment and family well-being.

• Before joining AEI, Dr. Rachidi spent almost a decade researching benefit programs for low-income populations in New York City. From 2007 to 2015, she served as a deputy commissioner in New York City’s Department of Social Services, where she oversaw the agency’s policy research and program evaluation efforts. She also evaluated the effectiveness of government programs as a senior researcher for Mathematica before returning to AEI.

• Dr. Rachidi is affiliated with the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Economic Self-Sufficiency Policy Research Institute at the University of California, Irvine. She is also a member of the Poverty, Tax, and Transfer Policies Research Network sponsored by the IRP and a board member for the National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics. She previously served on the AEI-Brookings Paid Family Leave Working Group.

• Dr. Rachidi is often published in academic publications and the popular press, including Children and Youth Services Review, the Journal of Child and Family Studies, the New York Post, The Hill, InsideSources, and RealClearMarkets.

• Dr. Rachidi has a PhD in public policy from The New School’s Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy. She also has a master’s of public administration from Northern Illinois University and a BS in public administration from the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.

• Find on Twitter: @AngelaRachidi