The spring 2023 issue of AEI's National Affairs is out, and in the issue's lead article, Nicholas Eberstadt and Peter Van Ness measure geographical variations in labor force participation across America. Most research relies on national data to reckon with America's enduring workforce problem, but Eberstadt and Van Ness show that local and regional data might help explain why so many Americans stay disconnected from the workforce, even with record demand for workers.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Matt Weidinger explains why welfare payments remain at record highs while unemployment holds at historic lows. "Massive pandemic payments untethered welfare eligibility from the real financial conditions of American families, making means-testing meaningless," writes Weidinger.

Also in the Wall Street Journal, Naomi Schaefer Riley and Sarah Font challenge activists' call for the repeal of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, the federal law that underpins the American foster care system. Font and Riley say that the repeal of this "imperfect" law would make it harder for endangered children to find safe and permanent adoptive families.

As politically liberal young women struggle with widespread despair and declining mental health, Daniel A. Cox considers possible explanations and offers two of his own: "the #MeToo movement and a rapid change in social identity."

Kori Schake reflects on what the Iraq War meant for American power, global leadership, and self-confidence. While mistakes in Iraq eroded geopolitical power and justifiably shook confidence at home and abroad, Schake says the strengths and principles at the core of American power remain the same.