To Work or Not To Work

Unfortunately some of our fellow citizens prefer to not work because they either do just as well living off government benefits or, if not just as well, they prefer getting the free stuff anyway.  Analyzing government data the Cato Institute has published a study entitled "The Work versus Welfare Tradeoff: 2013.  It contains a number of interesting findings.  Here are a few:

     "There is little doubt that one of the most important long-term steps toward avoiding or getting out of poverty is taking a job. Only 2.6 percent of full-time workers are poor, as defined by the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) standard, compared with 23.9 percent of adults who do not work. Even part-time work makes a significant difference; only 15 percent of part-time workers are poor.1 And while many anti-poverty activists decry low-wage jobs, a minimum-wage job can be a springboard out of poverty."

     The report contains this interesting quote from a 26 August 2012 Chicago Tribune article (The Truth about Obama and Welfare) by Steve Chapman.  "Ron Haskins, who as a Republican committee aide helped draft the 1996 welfare reform and who now is an analyst for the Brookings Institution, says that if the administration 'wanted to undermine the work requirement,' the new policy 'is a way to do it.'"  The article deals with a July 2012 Obama Administration decision to to revise welfare work rules.  The full article is here:  http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-26/news/ct-oped-0826-chapman-20120826_1_welfare-reform-work-requirements-ron-haskins

     Back to the report itself.  "There should clearly be a public policy preference for work over welfare. The current welfare system provides such a high level of benefits that it acts as a disincentive for work. As a result, if Congress and state legislatures are serious about reducing welfare dependence and rewarding work, they should consider strengthening welfare work requirements, removing exemptions, and narrowing the list of activities that qualify as 'work.' Moreover, states should consider ways to shrink the gap between the value of welfare and work by reducing current benefit levels and tightening eligibility requirements." 

Here is a link to the Cato Institute report:  http://www.redstate.com/2013/08/19/obamas-work-to-welfare-program/

Adding to the context of this discussion, be aware that during Obama's first four years in office dependence on government increased by 23 percent.  "According to the Heritage Foundation's Index of Dependence on Government:  "More people than ever before — 67.3 million Americans — depend on the federal government for housing, food, income, student aid or other assistance. Consider: The nation committed more than 15 times the resources in 2010 than in 1962 to pay for people who depend on the government. More than 70 percent of the nation’s spending goes to dependence programs, up from 28.3 percent in 1962 and 48.5 percent in 1990. The Index grew 8.1 percent in 2010 alone. See this link:  http://hotair.com/archives/2012/02/08/report-dependence-on-government-up-23-percent-under-president-obama/

This is not a good news story for Americans nor does it speak well of the performance of the Obama administration as well as many state administrations.  Do not let your elected representatives at state or federal levels forget or ignore facts such as those contained herein.  Their responsibility is to enact legislation that promotes work - not dependence.  And, that means removing the onerous shackles they have placed on the backs of our nation's businesses.

George Burns