November 28, 2012
Good Intentions Gone Wrong, Part 2: The Welfare Cliff
Marc Comtois
Gary Alexander, Secretary of Public Welfare, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ~ "The single mom is better off earnings gross income of $29,000 with $57,327 in net income & benefits than to earn gross income of $69,000 with net income and benefits of $57,045." (h/t)
Is it any wonder people have made the economic choice to be more "taker" than "maker"? We've incentivized it. Perhaps one step away from the "fiscal cliff" would be to take a similar one back from the "welfare cliff" by reducing the incentives (ie; benefits)? "Tyler Durden" has much more.
11:30 AM
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Nice, balance the budget on the backs of kids living near the poverty line. Just think of the savings if they lose their access to healthcare!
Posted by: Russ at November 28, 2012 3:20 PMI see the effects of this first hand. I know plenty of people who have dropped out of the labor force voluntarily and still maintain a standard-of-living that's close to mine, even though we're a two-working-parent household in the top quintile.
Posted by: mangeek at November 30, 2012 4:40 PMOne question though... Is the problem that the programs are too generous, or that they've been keeping pace with inflation while earnings stagnate? There's got to be a little of each, right?