Welfare Pays Better Than Work, Study Finds

CATO Institute ^ | August 17, 2005

[republican4ever]

Welfare benefits are far more generous than commonly thought and substantially exceed the amount a recipient could earn in an entry-level job. As a result, recipients are likely to choose welfare over work, increasing long-term dependence. Those are the principal findings in "The Work vs. Welfare Trade-Off" (Policy Analysis no. 240) by Michael Tanner, director of health and welfare studies; Stephen Moore, director of fiscal policy studies; and David Hartman, CEO of Hartland Bank in Austin, Texas.

The paper was released at the height of the welfare debate in Congress.

[republican4ever]

I find this insulting to the honest, hard working people of America. Where, does it stop?

[thoughtomator]

It stops when there's no more taxpayer money to throw at it.

[drt1]

Yep. Between unemployment, Food Stamps, SSI payments and other amenities available to lower income individuals such as home heating credits and local charity contributions a good shyster can do pretty well for himself if so inclined - And it seems many are so inclined.

[tje]

I totally agree.. I do okay.. not rich by a lot of peoples standards, but the amount of taxes I pay funds 3-4 people who are doing nothing. Taxes are, by far, my largest monthly expenditure.. It out does my mortgage, money I sock away for retirement.. food, education for my kids...

[stopem]

Maybe it would stop when a Republican CONSERVATIVE is voted into office!

[T.Smith]

"It stops when there's no more taxpayer money to throw at it."

Translation: When Atlas shrugs.

[DJ MacWoW]

I was on welfare ONCE. This article is a lie. We rejoiced when Hubby got a job. There was no way to live on welfare and eat. It was a horrible experience.

[stopem]

$36,000 a Year in Hawaii

[Clemenza]

Yep, been this way my entire life. Folks sitting in the projects, getting food stamps and supplemental income "assistance." Many of these folks have been on welfare for three generations.

If these are the people who are supposedly "losing their jobs" to illegal aliens, I can plainly see why an employer would look elsewhere.

[TXBubba]

And what is worse is these people like life this way. I'm not talking about just the money...but the absolute boredom a productive person would get when they have no challenge or work to do over a long period of time. On the other end, there are rich people who do nothing, but even most of the rich want some kind of challenge or work to do. Only in their case they are free to be more selective and can pursue personal passions better.

[Clemenza]

Depends on how much the state subsidizes. In New York, you may have to limit your diet to Mickey-Ds and government cheese, but you can get by provided you get into subsidized housing.

[tiki]

Don't forget HUD housing and Medicaid.

Around here people babysit for cash, they sell burritos at games and parades, they have constant yard sales and many other revenue producing activities which aren't reported to the government and so don't affect their benefits.

[TXBubba]

BTW..my statement was not aimed at one timers like yourself. I am speaking to the generational people.

[republican4ever]

I'm sure it was for you and your family, as it would be for me and mine. The thing is, you were used to work and care for yourselves and had some pride and self-esteem. There lies the difference.

[durasell]

This is kind of hysterical. What most people miss is the obvious: many of the so-called middle class have sunk below the welfare lifestyle. So, they start screaming, pushing welfare down, so we can be above welfare recipients again. What they should be doing is looking for a way to pull themselves up.

[freedumb2003]

I was on welfare ONCE. This article is a lie. We rejoiced when Hubby got a job. There was no way to live on welfare and eat. It was a horrible experience.

You probably didn't know how to work the system and wanted to eat healthy.

Change to fast food and hit ALL the agencies -- get overlapping benefits. If this is a lifestyle and the education given to you, your "work" IS gaming the system.

A brief amount of time on welfare -- that is to say using it as intended as a safety net -- isn't really what this article is about IMHO.

[jonsie]

I wonder how many Federal Taxpayer dollars go to funding the drug trade and the addicts both legal and illegal? Some of the pictures from Katrina helped me understand the problems America is facing.

[DJ MacWoW]

In New York, you may have to limit your diet to Mickey-Ds and government cheese

We couldn't afford McDonalds. Never heard of government cheese.

but you can get by provided you get into subsidized housing.

I knew someone in housing like that. They were dives. These peoples toilet fell through the bathroom floor.

[Kozak]

It stops when there's no more taxpayer money to throw at it.

In other words never.

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. -- Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -- Thomas Jefferson

[rdcorso]

The system was set up to help the worker who temporarily lost his income and needed help for a few months until he found a new job.Today that worker won't qualify for the help because he probably earned some money earlier in the year while he was capable of working.The system doesn't help the working man,it helps the non worker who has no intention of ever getting a job.