Welfare Pays Best : Working Old Fashioned

If the general population in this country stills believes the Obama administration wants what's best for the jobless, then we are headed for third world status. When he eliminated the work requirement for welfare recipients, which was instituted under Clinton and the Republican congress, he willingly decided that by doing so he could increase the number of people on welfare and therefore increase his voter base. It worked. He was elected and reelected. fashioned

Just what does the future hold for the jobless remains a question. Is an ever growing number of people going without a job the new norm, as industry finds ways to be productive without adding employees?

With the innovation of science and technology to eliminate the average worker, the new mandates from government on industry for workers health care cost are huge, forcing a large number of people to sit on the side lines wishing they had a job but voting to keep the benefits coming, will there be enough production in industry to provide for all of the needs of the unemployed? Not likely.

What's next then for America?

Welfare Pays More than Minimum Wage in Most States
Source: "Study: Welfare Pays More than Minimum Wage in Most States," Fox News, August 21, 2013. Michael D. Tanner and Charles Hughes, "The Work versus Welfare Trade-Off: 2013," Cato Institute, August 19, 2013.
August 27, 2013

Welfare pays more than a minimum-wage job in 35 states, creating little incentive for Americans to take entry-level work and likely increasing their long-term dependency on government help, according to a new study by the Cato Institute.

The findings come 17 years after the Clinton administration, with bipartisan support from Congress, passed landmark welfare reform legislation that was supposed to move Americans away from entitlements and into the workforce, says Fox News.

• Among the other findings is that welfare in 13 states pays more than $15 an hour, compared with the federal hourly minimum wage of $7.25.
• The disparity was even higher in nine states in which welfare pays more than the average first-year teacher's salary; in the six most-generous states, it pays more than the entry-level salary for a computer programmer.
• The study points out that a full package of welfare benefits often exceeds take-home pay in part because benefits are tax-free.

The study's author argues that if Congress and state legislatures are serious about reducing welfare dependence and rewarding work, they should consider strengthening welfare-to-work requirements, removing exemptions and narrowing the definition of work. This could include reducing benefit levels and tightening eligibility requirements.

The Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities argues the study has several flaws, including that it "lumps together" a set of safety-net programs, including Medicaid, housing assistance and food stamps, and that "all poor families in which the parents aren't working receive all of these benefits."