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Study: Welfare pays more than work in most states
The Daily Caller ^ | 20 Aug 2013 | Michael Bastasch

Posted on 08/20/2013 2:37:33 PM PDT by mandaladon

Looking for a good paying job? Well, look no further.

No, really, stop looking. In 35 states, welfare benefits pay more than a minimum wage job, according to a new study by the libertarian Cato Institute, and in 13 states welfare pays more than $15 per hour.

“One of the single best ways to climb out of poverty is taking a job, but as long as welfare provides a better standard of living than an entry-level job, recipients will continue to choose it over work,” said Michael Tanner, senior policy analyst and co-author of the study.

The study is an updated version of one Tanner put out in 1995 that estimated the full value of welfare benefits packages across the states. The 1995 study found that such tax-free welfare benefits greatly exceeded the poverty level and “their dollar value was greater than the amount of take-home income a worker would receive from an entry-level job.”

Despite efforts to curb welfare spending, many welfare programs and benefits have continued to outpace the income that many workers can receive for working an entry-level job, which disincentivizes work, according to the study.

“The current welfare system provides such a high level of benefits that it acts as a disincentive for work,” reads the study. “Welfare currently pays more than a minimum-wage job in 35 states, even after accounting for the Earned Income Tax Credit, and in 13 states it pays more than $15 per hour.”

According to the study, the federal government funds 126 separate programs designed to support low-income earners. Seventy-two of these programs provide cash or in-kind benefits to recipients. This is on top of additional welfare programs operated by state and local governments.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cato; disincentive; ebt; eitc; freecheese; obamanomics; obamaphone; welfare
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Welfare recipients in Hawaii get the most benefits, according to Tanner, at $29.13 per hour — or $60,590 pre-tax income annually. However, the state’s minimum wage is only $7.25 per hour, according to the Labor Department. Hawaiians on welfare also earn 167 percent of the median salary in the state, which is only $36,275. The District of Columbia, Massachusetts and Connecticut have the next more generous welfare benefits...........

It pays to be on the dole in America.

1 posted on 08/20/2013 2:37:33 PM PDT by mandaladon
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To: mandaladon

Not to mention you have all day to pursue other enterprises off the books.


2 posted on 08/20/2013 2:42:23 PM PDT by dblshot (I am John Galt.)
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To: mandaladon

is that why Dog the Bounty hunter moved there?
(to be close to the louts he’s after)


3 posted on 08/20/2013 2:42:40 PM PDT by TurboZamboni (Marx smelled bad & lived with his parents most his life.)
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To: mandaladon

4 posted on 08/20/2013 2:45:26 PM PDT by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: Travis McGee
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

5 posted on 08/20/2013 2:49:37 PM PDT by TurboZamboni (Marx smelled bad & lived with his parents most his life.)
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To: mandaladon

Gawd. (*slaps forehead*)

The leftists will just use this as an excuse to raise the Minimum Wage.


6 posted on 08/20/2013 2:50:08 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (Where's my pressure cooker backpack wmd ricin laced al qaeda terrorist BASSELOPE?)
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To: Uncle Miltie
The leftists will just use this as an excuse to raise the Minimum Wage

Yes, and then raise welfare too or it would be unfaaaaaiiir!

7 posted on 08/20/2013 2:58:26 PM PDT by BitWielder1 (Corporate Profits are better than Government Waste)
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To: BitWielder1

that’s why I’m always mean towards these slowpokes who take too much time paying their stuff using an EBT at the cashier. they should be thanking me and kissing my ass for allowing them to get freebies while I bust my behind working..


8 posted on 08/20/2013 3:02:13 PM PDT by max americana (fired liberals in our company after the election, & laughed while they cried (true story))
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To: mandaladon

Are these numbers for a single mom with kids or what??


9 posted on 08/20/2013 3:14:14 PM PDT by Java4Jay (The evils of government are directly proportional to the tolerance of the people.)
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To: max americana

I understand what you are saying, however there are people with EBT card who actually are working real jobs trying to pay the bills and make ends meet.


10 posted on 08/20/2013 3:19:23 PM PDT by Gabz (Democrats for Voldemort.)
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To: Gabz

Unfortunately I will disagree out of respect, but I’ll give you points for it. IMHO, being on EBT is like a drug you cannot live without. Can you tell me any person out there who told the govt office they don’t want an EBT anymore? When you are receiving free stuff with no repercussion, why give it up?


11 posted on 08/20/2013 3:28:38 PM PDT by max americana (fired liberals in our company after the election, & laughed while they cried (true story))
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To: mandaladon

bkmk


12 posted on 08/20/2013 3:38:31 PM PDT by Sergio (An object at rest cannot be stopped! - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight)
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To: max americana
Can you tell me any person out there who told the govt office they don’t want an EBT anymore?

Yeah I can name at least half a dozen, but I will stick with myself. They didn't want to take back the card or stop the benefit because our income was still within the guidelines. So I just cut up the card and mailed it back to them.

I know there re far more abusers than those using it properly - but there are still many using it properly, and even more who should actually get more than they do.

13 posted on 08/20/2013 3:38:40 PM PDT by Gabz (Democrats for Voldemort.)
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To: mandaladon
Welfare recipients in Hawaii get the most benefits, according to Tanner, at $29.13 per hour — or $60,590 pre-tax income annually. However, the state’s minimum wage is only $7.25 per hour, according to the Labor Department. Hawaiians on welfare also earn 167 percent of the median salary in the state, which is only $36,275. The District of Columbia, Massachusetts and Connecticut have the next more generous welfare benefits...........

It pays to be on the dole in America.

When I lived in Hawaii, the state had the highest cost of living and the lowest per-capita income in the US.

14 posted on 08/20/2013 4:06:00 PM PDT by Chuckster (The longer I live the less I care about what you think.)
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To: Gabz

Add me to your list.


15 posted on 08/20/2013 4:07:27 PM PDT by dadgum (Overjoyed to be the Pariah.)
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To: mandaladon

This country is so screwed.


16 posted on 08/20/2013 4:10:49 PM PDT by TexasRepublic (Socialism is the gospel of envy and the religion of thieves)
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To: mandaladon

Consider too that minimum wage overtime is a vanishing. You get to work two 29 hour part time jobs and not see a dime of overtime. So you work your arse off and break even with staying home


17 posted on 08/20/2013 4:16:17 PM PDT by NonValueAdded ("When there is no penalty for failure, failures proliferate." George F. Will)
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To: dadgum

It happens - but not everyone is a leech, as far too many around here would like to paint those of us who work damned hard, but fell on hard times.

Somewhere along the line the system got screwed up - it was meant for folks that fell on temporary hard times and a means to tide them over til things got better. “Temporary” seems to have gone out the window.


18 posted on 08/20/2013 4:22:12 PM PDT by Gabz (Democrats for Voldemort.)
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To: mandaladon

Yes, but the normal self-respecting person will continue to work, even if the leftist bastards take 60% of his salary to pay useless indolent slobs to vote democrat.

The useless indolent slob sees nothing wrong with taking the money that was earned by honest, hard-working industrious people.


19 posted on 08/20/2013 4:31:25 PM PDT by I want the USA back
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To: mandaladon

This is where you end up when “compassion” and feelings drive policy. Why shouldn’t everyone have enough money to support themselves? Why shouldn’t everyone have enough money to live a good life even if they don’t work? If someone wants to sit on their ass and watch TV all day, who are we to judge them or tell them that they shouldn’t get Welfare and Food Stamps? It would be “cruel” to deny someone Food Stamps and Welfare because they don’t work.

And besides, those greedy bastard rich people have more than enough and aren’t paying their “fair share” of taxes. If they just “paid a little more” it would help “those in need.”

The Welfare State is a national suicide pact. America has slit its wrists and is bleeding out. But as long as the current generation gets to live the good life without having to work for it, who the hell cares about anyone else???


20 posted on 08/20/2013 4:33:59 PM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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